STUDIES  IN  CHRISTIAN  LIVING 

-  CHRISTIAN  -  " 
CITIZENSHIP 

FRANCIS    J.    McCONNELL 

UC-NRLt 


$B   113    SHT 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2007  with  funding  from 

IVIicrosoft  Corporation 


http://www.archive.org/details/christiancitizenOOmccorich 


STUDIES  IN  CHRISTIAN  OVINC 


Christian  Citizenship 

An  Elective  Course  for  Young  People 


By 

FRANCIS  J.  McCONNELL 

Biahop  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 


Approved  by  the  Committee  on  Curriculum 

of  the  Board  of  Sunday  Schools  of  the 

Methodist  Episcopal  Church 


THE  METHODIST  BOOK  CONCERN 
NEW  YORK  CINCINNATI 


•  •  •  ••'  •    »•• 

:  •    •       a    •      • 


Copyright,  1922,  by 
FRANCIS  J.  McCONNELL 


Printed  in  the  United  Statea  of  America 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  FAOK 

The  Christian  and  Citizenship 5 

I.    Why  a  Social  Gospel? 7 

II.    The  Organization  Necessary  for  Social 

Living 14 

III.  The  Chief  Right  and  Duty 21 

IV.  Majorities  and  Minorities 28 

V.    An  Educated  Citizenry 34 

VI.    Physical  Fitness  and  the  Public  Health  41 

VII.    Productive  Labor 47 

VIII.    The  Patriotic  Home 54 

IX.    The  Social  Offender 60 

X.    Americanization 66 

XI.    Christian  Community 73 

XII.    World  Citizenship 80 

XIII.    Religion  Has  the  Last  Word 87 


493943 


THE  CHEISTIAN  AND  CITIZENSHIP 

Whebe  are  the  young  people  who  are  about  to  assume 
the  responsibilities  of  suffrage,  or  the  new  voters  who  have 
recently  begun  to  exercise  their  civic  privileges  to  have  the 
opportunity  of  discussing  civic  responsibilities  in  the  light 
of  Christian  ideals?  Where  are  they  to  be  brought  to  a 
keener  realization  of  their  obligations  as  Christians  to  put 
the  teachings  of  Jesus  to  the  test  of  application  to  the 
many  baflling  problems  of  our  civic  and  political  life? 
Where  are  they  to  hear  the  principles  of  the  prophets  and 
of  Jesus  interpreted  in  terms  of  citizenship  in  America  in 
the  twentieth  century,  and,  in  a  distinctively  Christian 
atmosphere  to  be  given  the  opportunity  through  discus- 
sion of  adjusting  their  own  personal  views  to  Christian 
ideals  ? 

Is  any  organization  other  than  the  church  likely  to  offer 
such  opportunities  on  any  large  scale?  Even  if  scattered 
groups  are  brought  together  under  other  than  church 
auspices,  can  the  church  be  content  to  do  nothing  in  the 
way  of  formal  instruction  to  supplement  the  little  that  is 
done  by  other  agencies  ? 

This  book  is  issued  because  of  a  conviction  on  the  part 
of  not  a  few  of  the  leaders  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  that  instruction  in  citizenship  ought  to  be  pro- 
vided by  the  church,  and  that  textbooks  are  needed  for 
study  and  as  a  means  of  guiding  discussion  in  definite 
lines.  It  is  not  expected  that  every  young  people's  group 
in  the  church  will  use  this  book.  It  is  believed  that  there 
are  many  groups — ^young  people's  classes  in  the  Sunday 
school,  Epworth  League  classes,  groups  brought  together 
on  church  training  night,  etc. — in  which  it  may  be  profit- 
ably used.  Considerable  demand  had  been  expressed, 
especially  by  young  people's  classes  in  our  Sunday  schools, 
for  special  elective  study  courses.  It  is  in  response  to  this 
demand  that  Christian  Citizenship  and  other  special  study 
courses  have  been  prepared. 

5 


/>k'kk''C9:'^isTi'A.N^^^  a^d  citizenship 

This  book  is  the  first  of  a  series  bearing  the  title  "Studies 
in  Christian  Living/^  A  second  will  deal  with  the  close, 
more  intimate  social  relationships  of  the  neighborhood, 
and  a  third  with  the  wider  relationships  of  our  own  nation 
with  other  nations.  Yet  other  courses  will  deal  with  re- 
lated subjects  of  vital  interest  and  importance  to  young 
people. 

The  Editoes. 


CHAPTER  I 

WHY  A  SOCIAL  GOSPEL? 

Isa.  61.  10  to  62.  1;  Amos  6.  1-6;  1  John  3.  16-18 

Salvation  and  the  Individual 

Is  Christianity  solely  individualistic? — At  the  outset  of 
our  attempt  to  find  some  Christian  principles  of  citizen- 
ship we  are  likely  to  be  told  that  such  attempt  is  but 
another  path  by  which  we  may  lose  the  essentials  of  Chris- 
tianity, that  Christianity  is  by  nature  an  affair  of  the  indi- 
vidual person,  that  all  these  modern  strokes  of  emphasis 
on  the  so-called  social  gospel  are  wide  of  the  mark,  that 
men  find  salvation  as  individuals,  and  not  as  nations  or 
groups.  Admitting  the  plain  fact  that  nations  do  need 
salvation,  it  is  claimed  that  salvation  comes  only  as  indi- 
viduals in  the  nations  are  converted  to  righteousness. 

We  concede  that  much  preaching  of  the  social  gospel 
to-day  does  encourage  a  false  belittling  of  the  function  of 
the  individual.  Some  social  leaders  sneer  at  the  doctrine 
of  personal  salvation  as  old-fashioned  and  proclaim  that  if 
we  can  get  the  right  group  spirit  the  salvation  of  the  indi- 
vidual will  take  care  of  itself.  We  are  reminded  that  mul- 
titudes of  individuals  do  not  yet  possess  enough  material 
goods  to  make  the  attainment  of  spiritual  goods  possible, 
that  the  group  spirit  is  so  selfish  as  to  neutralize  individual 
unselfishness,  that  the  relation  of  groups  to  one  another  is, 
especially  in  the  case  of  national  groups,  such  as  to  con- 
tradict and  defy  all  doctrines  of  Christianity. 

Misconstruing  facts. — Much  of  our  difficulty  in  all  such 
discussion  comes  from  not  looking  at  facts  as  they  are.  On 
the  one  side  the  individualist  talks  as  if  a  person  lived  his 
essential  life  apart  from  society,  and  on  the  other  side  the 
advocate  of  a  social  gospel  too  often  talks  as  if  society  were 
something  beyond  and  above  the  persons  who  make  up 
society.     But  individuals  could  hardly  come  to  be  real 

7 


•v. : :;:  y':  JCffiSlSTI^  CITIZENSHIP 

individuals  apart  from  society.  The  instruction  that 
society  gives  a  child  in  the  early  years  of  his  Life  is  quite 
as  important  as  the  set  of  abilities  which  the  child  brings 
into  the  world  with  him  as  his  native  inheritance;  for 
without  the  favoring  help  of  society  the  possibilities  of 
the  individual  could  never  flower  into  expression.  Sup- 
pose a  child  to  be  born  with  an  endowment  of  ability 
amounting  to  positive  genius :  how  far  would  genius  carry 
the  child  if  there  were  nobody  to  teach  him  to  talk  ?  And 
language  is  a  social  instrument.  On  the  other  hand,  society 
can  consist  only  of  the  persons  who  compose  society. 

I  once  heard  a  preacher  declare  that  the  chief  concern 
of  religion  is  the  question  that  comes  in  the  depths  of  a 
man's  soul  as  the  man  stands  alone  with  his  God.  Let  the 
mail  be  in  a  deep  forest,  with  no  other  soul  near,  or  alone 
in  a  vast  desert,  and  face  the  problems  of  his  own  destiny 
if  he  would  enter  into  religious  life.  The  preacher  seemed 
to  forget  that  if  the  soul  got  anywhere  in  these  forest  or 
desert  communings,  the  questions  would  have  to  be  put  in 
terms  of  a  language  taught  by  society  and  would  have  to 
lead  to  duties  that  involve  not  God  alone  but  man  as  well. 

Geoup  Eelationships  and  Christian  Pkogress 

There  is  no  need  of  abstract  debate  here.  We  must 
admit  that  we  are  all  born  as  members  of  groups,  with  the 
claims  of  national  groups  especially  strong  upon  us.  And 
the  question  is  not  as  to  an  abstract  personal  gospel  or  an 
abstract  social  gospel  but  as  to  what  are  our  duties  as 
Christians  set  in  relationship  to  these  groups.  As  we 
raise  these  detailed  and  specific  interrogations,  a  good 
many  of  our  difficulties  vanish  of  themselves. 

The  individnal  at  the  center. — At  the  center  of  every 
social  system  must  admittedly  stand  the  individual.  Re- 
ligious life  begins  when  the  individual  for  himself  seeks 
to  link  his  own  will  to  the  divine  will.  But  the  individual 
lives  with  other  individuals,  and  his  religious  impulse  must 
find  its  way  out  into  expression  toward  those  other  indi- 
viduals. The  Christian  religion  puts  the  divine  father- 
hood and  the  human  brotherhood  together  as  indissolubly 
joined.  Now,  the  individual  person  must  always  be  on 
his  guard  lest  his  duties  toward  other  persons  revolve  in 

8 


WHY  A  SOCIAL  GOSPEL? 

too  narrow  a  circle.  Obvious  elemental  duties  toward  one's 
neighbor,  like  truth-telling  and  honest  dealing,  have  been 
held  up  as  virtuous  almost  from  the  beginning  by  all 
manner  of  moral  and  religious  teachers.  Even  among 
Christian  believers  the  injunction  to  love  one's  neighbor  as 
oneself  is  likely  to  get  narrowed  down  to  this  rather  close 
set  of  duties,  which  are  indeed  basically  important  but 
which  are  not  sujBficiently  inclusive.  Christian  progress 
comes  through  bringing  more  and  more  of  our  acts  under 
the  sway  of  the  Christian  spirit  and  more  and  more  per- 
sons under  the  influence  of  our  expression  of  that  spirit. 
What  advocates  of  the  social  gospel  after  all  object  to  is 
this  narrowing  of  Christian  duty  down  to  a  cramped  circle 
and  the  ignoring  of  other  vital  human  relationships  out- 
side of  that  circle.  For  Christianity  cannot  stop  on  the 
outside  of  any  realms  that  affect  men.  All  relationships 
among  men  are  fields  for  Christian  conquest.  Where  two 
or  three  gathered  together  for  any  purpose,  there  the  Spirit 
of  Christ  is  to  be  in  the  midst  of  them  if  the  gathering 
is  to  be  Christian. 

The  Sanctification  of  Social  Groups 

The  preaching  of  an  overtight  personal  gospel  is  some- 
what to  blame  for  the  confusion  in  which  we  find  ourselves. 
At  the  preacher's  door  must  be  laid  a  share  of  the  censure 
for  the  distinction  between  secular  and  sacred,  which 
has  wrought  so  much  harm.  The  individualist  has  taken 
the  restricted  set  of  personal  duties  as  the  sacred  duties 
and  has  left  the  broader  social  and  political  realms  to  the 
kingdom  of  the  secular ;  or,  at  least,  of  the  religiously  in- 
different. We  are  not  clamoring  for  any  return  to  a  fusion 
of  church  and  state.  The  trouble  with  the  fusion  which  we 
once  had  was  that  the  church  became  secularized  rather 
than  the  state  Christianized.  What  we  seek  to-day  is  not 
formal  and  official  connection  between  the  larger  social 
groups  and  Christianity  but  the  sanctification  of  all  these 
groups  by  the  Christian  spirit. 

The  doctrine  of  sanctification. — The  word  "sanctifica- 
tion" is  itself  suggestive  in  this  connection.  When  the 
Wesleyan  revival  swept  England  under  the  leadership  of 
the  Wesleys  and  Whitefield,  it  was  early  seen  that  the  goal 

9 


CHKISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

set  before  Christians  in  conversion  was  not  enough.  Con- 
version might  indeed  make  a  new  man,  but  what  was  the 
new  man  to  do  ?  Conversion  might  turn  a  man  about  and 
face  him  in  a  new  direction,  but  how  far  was  the  convert 
to  go  in  that  direction  ?  The  Wesleys  began  soon  to  teach 
the  doctrine  of  entire  sanctification,  by  which  they  meant 
that  all  phases  of  a  man's  nature  were  to  be  brought  into 
subjection  to  the  Spirit  of  Christ;  mind  and  heart  as  well 
as  will  were  to  be  transformed  by  the  indwelling  Christ 
life.  The  misfortune  that  the  Methodists  have  given  this 
doctrine  of  entire  sanctification  so  one-sided  an  emphasis 
that  it  is  usually  thought  of  in  connection  with  those  who 
profess  to  extravagantly  exalted  states  of  inner  purity 
should  not  blind  us  to  the  fundamentally  Christian  char- 
acter of  the  ideal.  For  the  New  Testament  teaches  an 
ideal  of  perfect  life  like  that  of  God  himself.  And  the 
struggle  for  the  ideal  is  to  find  itself  not  only  in  inner 
sanctification  but  in  outer  goodness  of  conduct.  God  send- 
eth  rain  and  sunshine  upon  the  evil  and  the  good.  Even- 
handed  impartiality  is  one  of  the  marks  of  the  perfection 
of  God ;  and  the  implication  of  the  New  Testament  teach- 
ing is  that  it  is  characteristic  of  the  goodness  of  God  that 
he  recognizes  and  acts  upon  obligations  to  all  men,  good 
and  bad.  If  we  can  imagine  a  sphere  of  relations  to  men 
which  would  be  indifferent  to  God  we  might  have  valid 
excuse  for  stopping  outside  of  some  circles  of  human  con- 
tact, as  if  these  were  religiously  indifferent  to  us.  The  New 
Testament  doctrine  of  entire  sanctification  is  that  we  are 
to  carry  the  sanctifying  spirit  into  all  departments  of  life. 
If  we  draw  lines  beyond  which  we  will  not  go  we  must 
recognize  that  we  are  Christians  only  up  to  those  boundary 
lines. 

The  war  and  the  gospel. — Suppose  we  consider  a  very 
simple  illustration.  Look  at  international  war  for  a 
moment.  Who  is  there  that  will  call  war  Christian  ?  Only 
a  few  hardy  jingoes  or  self-sophisticated  theorists.  The 
utmost  that  can  be  said  for  war  is  that  it  is  sometimes  the 
less  of  two  horrible  evils.  But  why  has  the  world  been  so 
long  in  seeing  the  antichristian  character  of  war?  For 
many  causes — one  of  them  just  this  narrow  sphere  in 
which  Christian  duty  has  moved.     From  the  beginning 

10 


WHY  A  SOCIAL  GOSPEL? 

until  now  there  has  never  been  an  attack  on  war  in  the 
sense  of  the  creation  of  a  public  spirit  opposed  to  war. 
War  has  been  accepted  as  of  the  natural  system  of  things. 
Except  an  occasional  philosopher  or  an  individual  states- 
man or  isolated  religious  prophet  here  and  there  nobody 
has — ^until  comparatively  recently — raised  any  persistent 
question  about  war.  And  there  war  has  stood,  a  denial  of 
everything  Christianity  pleads  for,  a  denial  of  the  father- 
hood of  God  and  of  the  brotherhood  of  man,  all  without 
much  serious  protest.  There  has  not  been  enough  force  as 
yet  among  Christians  to  carry  the  attack  into  the  strong- 
hold of  this  antichrist.  There  are  even  to-day  pious  souls 
here  and  there  who  decry  preaching  against  war  and 
against  the  causes  that  make  for  war  on  the  ground  that 
all  such  preaching  gets  away  from  the  inner,  personal, 
spiritual  gospel. 

Developing  a  Righteous  Group  Spirit 

Again,  the  preaching  of  the  gospel  in  its  wide  social 
application  is  needed  not  only  for  the  reason  that  Christian 
duties  are  largely  duties  of  men  in  their  relation  one  to 
another,  but  also  for  the  further  reason  that  when  men 
get  together  they  develop  a  new  spirit  as  compared  with 
that  shown  when  they  act  separately.  A  group  of  men,  all 
of  them  individually  sane,  can  as  a  group  act  insanely.  Or, 
to  take  the  other  side,  a  group  of  persons  individually 
rather  selfish  can  as  a  group  act  unselfishly.  Men  find 
loosed  within  them  in  groups  forces  different  from  those 
they  know  when  they  are  alone.  The  purpose  of  any  gospel 
that  understands  itself  is  to  get  hold  of  these  group  powers 
and  use  them  for  righteousness.  Now,  it  does  not  make 
any  appreciable  difference  what  we  call  such  an  effort, 
whether  a  social  gospel  or  a  gospel  directed  toward  the 
release  of  extraordinary  powers  in  the  individual ;  the  aim 
is  to  get  hold  of  all  possible  human  powers  and  utilize  them 
for  the  kingdom  of  God.  The  spirit  of  patriotism  is  largely 
such  a  power.  It  is  strongest  in  its  group  expressions. 
Rightly  controlled  it  can  exalt  a  selfish  man  into  unselfish- 
ness, or  left  to  itself  it  can  pull  down  the  righteous  man 
into  selfishness.    It  can  lift  up  and  it  can  cast  down.    It  is 

11 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

the  duty  of  Christianity  to  get  hold  of  this  spirit  and  turn 
it  for  righteousness. 

The  Importance  of  Coopeeation 

Again,  apart  from  this  spirit  that  descends  upon  men 
in  groups  as  it  would  never  touch  them  as  separate  persons, 
we  need  a  social  gospel  to  emphasize  the  importance  of 
those  duties  which  men  can  only  perform  together.  No 
one  man  can  put  away  war.  No  one  man  can  radically 
change  the  industrial  or  social  system  by  his  single  effort. 
There  must  be  cooperation.  An  individual  can  here  and 
there  dramatically  arrest  attention  by  making  a  martjrr  of 
himself,  as  by  going  to  jail  rather  than  to  fight  in  an  un- 
righteous war.  His  substantial  service  even  so,  however, 
is  in  thrusting  the  question  inescapably  before  the  minds 
of  multitudes  who  will  one  day  vote  war  out  of  existence. 
This  series  of  discussions  of  ours  is  to  move  largely  in  the 
realm  in  which  men  vote.  Is  it  a  condemnation  of  Chris- 
tian effort  that  it  seeks  to  bring  the  Christian  spirit  into 
the  realm  of  voting  ? 

Finish  the  baking. — But  someone  will  say  that  this  is 
all  well  enough  where  issues  are  sharply  defined  in  their 
normal  bearings,  but  that  the  trouble  comes  from  those 
who  try  to  import  religious  tests  into  vague  and  undefined 
territories.  For  the  half-baked  social  doctrines  we,  of 
course,  all  have  scorn.  Half-baked  doctrines  are  indeed 
poor  food,  but  they  have  value  in  a  sphere  where  no  baking 
has  been  done.  AH  that  we  have  to  do  with  some  half- 
baked  doctrines  to  make  them  wholesome  is  to  finish  the 
baking.  There  was  a  time  when  men  were  feeling  their 
way  along  toward  some  of  those  elemental  duties  which 
now  seem  to  us  self-evident.  If  the  social  gospel  seems 
to  encourage  an  exploring  spirit  in  realms  hitherto  un- 
touched by  Christianity,  that  is  a  count  not  against  but 
for  the  social  gospel. 

The  individual  and  his  environment. — But  all  this 
seems  to  get  away  from  the  basis  of  personal  appeal  and 
to  rely  on  so-called  "atmospheric"  or  environmental  fac- 
tors. I  ought  not  to  yield  to  a  wrong  environment,  but 
neither  ought  I  to  create  a  wrong  environment.  If  I  take 
a  false  attitude  on  a  social  question  I  am  a  bad  factor  in 

12 


WHY  A  SOCIAL  GOSPEL? 

the  environment  of  all  whom  that  public  action  touches. 
It  is  my  business  to  correct  that  attitude.  It  is  my  busi- 
ness to  do  all  I  can  to  capture  the  immense  environmental 
forces  of  spiritual  atmosphere  and  public  opinion  and 
national  sentiment  to  mold  men  toward  righteousness.  In 
the  end,  of  course,  individual  men  will  have  to  make  what 
they  can  of  these  forces  for  themselves.  It  is  my  duty  to 
see  that  they  get  a  chance  to  use  a  force  that  moves  toward 
righteousness.  What  a  fine  thing  a  vitally  holy  patriotism 
would  be  if  we  could  only  have  it !  Well,  then,  let  us  see 
what  are  the  marks  of  such  a  patriotism.  Possibly  if  we 
find  out  what  it  is  we  shall  be  in  better  position  to  get  it 
and  to  hold  it  fast.  The  individual  personal  experience 
will  be  wider  and  fuller  if  we  heed  those  social  principles 
which  make  for  the  Christianization  of  our  group  activities. 

Questions  foe  Thought  and  Discussion 

1.  Is  there  any  contradiction  between  the  individual 
gospel  and  the  social  gospel? 

2.  Can  religion  serve  God  without  serving  men  ? 

3.  In  what  sense  is  it  possible  for  society  to  be  con- 
verted ? 

4.  Can  an  individual  live  a  perfect  life  in  an  imperfect 
environment  ? 

5.  What  are  the  best  signs  of  a  wholly  sanctified  Ufe? 

6.  It  is  sometimes  said  that  Jesus  discovered  the  indi- 
vidual.   What  does  such  a  statement  mean  to  you  ? 

7.  Is  there  any  sense  in  which  we  could  say  that  Jesu8 
discovered  society  ? 

8.  Name  some  faults  against  which  the  preacher  of  the 
social  gospel  should  be  on  his  guard. 


13 


CHAPTEK II 

THE  OEGANIZATION  NECESSAEY  FOR  SOCIAL 
LIVING 

John  10.  10b;  Luke  17.  33;  Matt.  20.  25-28 

Our  Aim  as  Chkistians 

The  aim  of  Christianity  in  personal  living  and  in  social 
relationships  is  that  men  may  have  life,  and  may  have  it 
abundantly.  From  the  Christian  point  of  view  all  forms  of 
social  organization  are  to  be  judged  by  the  effects  on  the 
life  of  the  persons  who  live  under  them.  By  "life"  Chris- 
tianity means  the  fullest  and  the  best  life.  The  Master  in- 
deed said  that  he  who  seeks  to  save  his  own  life  must  lose 
it,  and  that  he  who  loses  his  life  saves  it.  No  one  of  us 
must  erect  his  own  personal  development  into  the  all-suffi- 
cient object  of  his  own  endeavor.  But  it  is  thoroughly 
Christian  to  seek  for  a  social  organization  that  will  mean 
the  most  to  the  people  who  live  under  that  organization. 

The  Highest  Life  of  Persons 

Men  above  things. — The  first  purpose  to  keep  firm  hold 
of  is  to  seek  the  highest  life  of  persons — a  chance  for  men, 
women,  and  children  to  unfold  their  own  best  powers  as 
they  seek  for  the  common  good.  The  life  of  persons  is  the 
end,  and  the  form  of  social  organization  is  the  means.  The 
organization  must  give  way  to  improvement  or  replacement 
altogether  if  the  needs  of  the  people  call  for  such  sur- 
render. Christianity  conceives  of  the  church  as  a  divine 
institution,  but  any  wise  churchman  draws  a  distinction 
between  the  church  as  the  body  of  believers  and  the  church 
as  an  organizational  scheme.  It  is  the  church  as  the  body 
of  believers  which  has  the  primary  sacredness.  Organiza- 
tional features — rituals,  creeds,  orders  of  ministry — these 
have  only  a  secondary  or  instrumental  sacredness,  depend- 
ing on  their  efficiency  in  ministering  to  the  life  of  the  be- 

14 


THE  ORGANIZATION  NECESSARY 

lievers.  When  churchmen  exalt  the  organization  into  an 
end  in  itself  and  make  the  believers  subordinate  to  the 
organization  they  sin  against  that  Christian  principle 
which  puts  men  above  things. 

The  ideal  of  the  state. — ^If  this  is  true  of  the  church  it  is 
much  more  true  of  the  state.  A  state  is  to  be  judged  by 
what  happens  to  the  people  who  live  under  that  state.  This 
does  not  forbid  that  a  state  may  stand  for  an  ethical  ideal 
that  may  legitimately  require  particular  citizens  to  give 
their  goods  and  their  lives  at  a  particular  crisis.  But  the 
ideal  must  be  ethical — one  which  never  loses  sight  of  the 
betterment  of  human  life.  It  must  not  be  the  ideal  of  a 
state  as  a  state  existing  in  its  own  right  as  more  important 
than  the  constituent  people. 

The  end  of  the  state. — So  far  as  the  old  Oriental  des- 
potisms had  any  theory  about  themselves  at  all,  it  was  the 
theory  that  the  individual  person  existed  only  for  the  des- 
potism or  for  the  despot.  Egyptians  laboring  by  the  scores 
of  thousands  under  conditions  which  made  life  almost  in- 
tolerable, simply  that  a  Pharaoh  might  have  a  pyramid 
monument,  give  us  a  picture  of  Oriental  despotism.  As 
this  idea  lost  its  hold  on  the  human  mind  there  appeared 
in  many  quarters  the  notion  that  the  individual  persons 
should  exist  for  themselves  without  reliance  upon  the  or- 
ganizations we  call  states.  But  the  pendulum  is  sure, 
sooner  or  later,  to  swing  rather  steadily  around  the  center 
that  the  persons  are  indeed  the  main  end  of  states  and 
other  social  groups,  but  that  these  persons  come  to  their 
best  through  organization  into  groups.  If  it  is  true  to  say 
of  the  ancient  despotisms  that  the  people  existed  for  the 
despotism,  it  is  at  least  ideally  true  to  say  that  the  modem 
state  exists  for  the  people. 

The  Means  for  Achieving  Social  Welfabb 

The  Christian  ideal,  then,  for  a  state  or  any  social  group 
is  the  welfare  of  the  people.  A  Christian  organization 
would  be  one  that  would  draw  out  the  possibilities  of  its 
citizens  toward  their  highest  and  best.  Of  course,  "highest 
and  besf '  are  indefinite  terms.  They  might  be  justly 
defined  as  life  like  unto  the  Christ  life.  This  too  is  in- 
definite, but  it  does  give  us  an  ideal  toward  which  we  can 

15 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

purposely  strive.  Now,  the  Christ  character  in  men  must 
be  conceived  of  more  and  more  in  positive  terms.  Any 
state  must  of  need  exercise  repressive  powers  to  keep  the 
animal  and  vicious  elements  in  society  from  getting  ascen- 
dancy. But  a  Christian  state  would  try  to  draw  oiit  the 
more  positive  and  righteous  qualities  of  its  citizens.  The 
question  then  becomes.  What  organization  is  best  fitted  to 
do  this  ? 

Democracy. — For  the  American  the  answer  is  ready  at 
hand.  Government  should  be  of  the  people,  by  the  people, 
and  for  the  people.  Democracy  is  the  charmed  word,  and 
by  a  tacit  common  consent  we  seem  to  assume  that  it  is 
necessarily  a  Christian  word.  The  movement  of  the  pres- 
ent and  future  will  be  more  and  more  toward  democracy. 
Since  this  is  true,  it  becomes  pertinent  for  us  to  ask  how 
we  can  make  the  most  of  democracy  for  the  highest  human 
welfare.  Here,  again,  it  may  be  well  for  us  not  to  erect 
a  mere  term  into  something  more  important  than  human 
beings.  Democracy  to-day  has  such  a  fascinating,  almost 
hypnotic  spell  that  many  of  us  are  in  danger  of  becoming 
worshipers  of  a  word.  The  essential  goal  always  is  the 
welfare  of  people.  A  leader  who  thinks  of  the  welfare 
of  the  people  and  who  labors  at  putting  measures  into  effect 
which  will  benefit  the  people,  with  the  consent  of  the 
people  themselves,  is  democratic  whether  the  precise  form 
of  the  organization  under  which  he  works  is  democratic 
or  not. 

The  Webb  Utopia. — Sidney  and  Beatrice  Webb  have  re- 
cently published  a  suggested  constitution  for  a  socialistic 
commonwealth  in  Great  Britain.  There  can  be  no  doubt 
as  to  the  public-spiritedness  of  these  two  authors.  They 
have  probably  done  as  much  for  the  good  of  the  masses  of 
England  as  any  two  writers  of  our  time.  If  any  leaders 
to-day  are  democratic,  the  Webbs  are.  Yet  in  the  pro- 
posed socialistic  commonwealth  provision  is  made  for  a 
king  and  a  royal  family !  In  other  words  the  Webbs  pro- 
pose a  democratic  organization  with  the  most  outstanding 
feature  of  monarchy!  How  absurd  it  seems!  But  as  a 
matter  of  fact  we  do  not  have  to  wait  for  the  Webb  utopia 
to  see  democracy  working  under  the  forms  of  monarchy. 
England  may  to-day  fall  short  of  being  an  ideal  democracy, 

16 


THE  OEGANIZATION  NECESSAEY 

but  it  is  not  the  fact  of  her  having  a  king  which  hinders 
her  democracy.  The  government  centers  in  the  prime 
minister,  and  he  is  more  directly  reachable  by  the  forces 
of  the  public  will  than  is  the  President  of  the  United 
States.  When  it  comes  to  getting  the  public  will  quickly 
into  effect  England  is  quite  likely  more  of  a  democracy 
than  is  the  United  States. 

In  Mexico. — On  the  other  hand,  look  at  Mexico  during, 
let  us  say,  the  presidencies  of  Porfirio  Diaz.  Here  is  a 
nation  that  started  out  with  the  deliberate  intention  of 
being  democratic  to  the  utmost.  She  adopted  a  constitu- 
tion similar  to  that  of  the  United  States,  because  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  seemed  to  Mexico  the  fore- 
most example  of  democracy.  And  Diaz — we  mention  him 
as  the  most  outstanding  ruler  of  his  type — swayed  Mexico 
as  a  despot  through  democratic  forms.  No,  the  essential 
requisite  is  not  just  the  possession  of  an  organization 
labeled  democracy ;  it  is  rather  the  purpose  with  which  the 
organization  is  used. 

Representation  and  Leadership 

We  have  said  that  the  duty  of  the  Christian  state  is  to 
make  the  utmost  of  the  citizens  of  the  state.  It  is  clear 
that  if  the  citizens  are  to  reach  the  highest  they  must 
reach  that  highest  through  their  own  efforts.  Does  this 
mean  that  the  people  are  to  meet  in  vast  assemblies  and 
transact  their  own  business  directly  ?  That  is  increasingly 
impossible.  But  does  not  such  impossibility  force  us,  then, 
back  to  benevolent  despots,  who  do  us  good  by  their  supe- 
rior wisdom?  That  also  is  impossible.  No  matter  how 
well-intentioned  such  despots  may  be  they,  in  the  end, 
leave  no  place  for  the  people  themselves. 

The  demagogue  and  the  statesman. — ^What,  then,  is  the 
Christian  leadership  that  we  call  substantially  democratic  ? 
We  may  find  an  answer  by  considering  democratic  leader- 
ship that  is  not  Christian,  leadership  that  is  selfishly 
political — in  other  words,  demagogy.  How  does  the 
demagogue  succeed  ?  He  succeeds  by  reaching  the  popular 
mind  and  by  expressing  that  mind  to  the  people  them- 
selves. He  develops  the  power  of  making  the  people  feel 
that  when  they  hear  their  champion  speak  they  are  hearing 

17 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

themselves  speak.  The  demagogue  does  this  for  his  own 
selfish  purposes  and  often  expresses  the  thought  of  the 
people  on  its  lower  plane  of  prejudice  or  selfishness.  The 
statesman,  on  the  contrary,  is  one  who  catches  the  senti- 
ment of  the  people  at  its  topmost  range  and  who  expresses 
that  sentiment  for  the  good  of  the  people  themselves,  and 
not  for  his  own  good.  The  statesman  is  the  better  self  of 
his  people  in  speech  or  in  action.  If  he  can  lead  the  people 
in  this  realm  of  higher  ideals,  his  statesmanship  is  of  the 
Christian  order. 

Chkistian  Democeacy 

What,  now,  is  Christian  democracy?  Christian  democ- 
racy is  democracy  set  on  Christian  aims.  We  repeat  that 
we  are  not  concerned  with  details  of  political  organization. 
It  is  evident  that  the  highest  life  for  men  cannot  be  reached 
unless  men  in  some  way  sanction  that  life  for  themselves. 
So  we  feel  that  a  Christian  state  must  be  fundamentally 
democratic.  An3rfching  that  stands  in  the  way  of  the  good 
of  the  people  is  not  democratic.  Mere  democratic  forms 
of  machinery  may  be  used  antidemocratically  to  thwart 
the  will  of  the  people.  Anything  that  takes  decisions  out 
of  the  hands  of  the  people  is  not  democratic. 

The  function  of  experts. — But  here  the  Christian  thinker 
must  be  careful  not  to  fall  into  confusion.  In  all  the  fore- 
going discussion  we  have  had  in  mind  those  broad  questions 
upon  which  the  people  can  rightly  be  expected  to  have  an 
opinion.  With  people  living  in  more  and  more  congested 
communities,  there  emerge  more  and  more  duties  that  must 
be  performed  by  experts— duties,  for  example,  affecting  the 
public  health.  We  shall  have  something  to  say  about 
questions  of  this  kind  later.  Here  we  are  dealing  with  those 
broader  moral  and  human  issues  upon  which  groups  of  per- 
sons can  form  and  express  opinions. 

The  folly  of  paternalism. — We  must  never  lose  sight  of 
the  fact  that  the  best  results  of  government  are  attained 
as  the  people  themselves  move  toward  the  highest  ideals. 
The  besetting  temptation  of  Christian  leadership  is  to  fall 
into  paternalism.  A  leader  attains  to  power  that  he  wields 
for  good  ends.  The  temptation  then  arises  to  move  toward 
the  goal  without  waiting  for  the  people.    It  seems  odd  to 

18 


THE  ORGAOTZATIOIT  NECESSARY 

say  so,  but  such  impatience  is  not  altogether  Christian. 
Christianity  looks  for  the  full  and  free  response  of  free 
men.  In  the  long  run  the  more  Christian  way  is  that  of 
full  presentation  of  the  ideal  and  of  patiently  persuading 
men  to  accept  that  ideal  no  matter  how  long  the  time  re- 
quired. It  must  be  remembered  that  on  first  examination 
democracy  always  makes  a  poor  showing  as  compared  with 
autocracy.  Autocracy  is  apparently  more  effective.  The 
autocrat  says  to  one  man,  "Do  this/'  and  he  does  it.  That 
is,  he  does  it  for  a  while,  but  in  the  long  run  the  greater 
efficiency  is  that  of  the  public  servant  in  an  atmosphere 
where  public  opinion  itself  makes  it  easy  and  honorable  to 
discharge  public  tasks.  Persuasion  takes  time,  but  in  the 
end  the  persuaded  man  works  better  and  works  longer  than 
the  ordered  man.  Of  the  dangers  that  democracy  itself 
may  become  autocratic  we  shall  speak  in  a  later  section. 
Here  we  insist  that  those  theories  and  policies  which  tend 
in  legislation  and  administration  toward  doing  the  people 
good,  whether  the  people  want  the  good  done  or  not,  are 
violations  of  that  Christian  principle  which  strives  to  call 
out  the  free  response  of  men  in  all  their  activities,  includ- 
ing the  voting  activities. 

Two  methods  in  contrast. — There  recently  came  to 
my  knowledge  an  apt  illustration  of  contrast  between  auto- 
cratic and  democratic  method  of  doing  good  to  people.  I 
heard  of  a  German  colonial  governor,  of  high  intentions 
and  consumma,te  scientific  skill,  who  had  failed  to  intro- 
duce right  sanitary  and  agricultural  methods  into  a  colony 
perishing  for  lack  of  them  because  he  had  sought  to  estab- 
lish the  new  methods  by  edict.  The  rawest  of  raw  heathen 
rebelled  against  such  methods  or,  rather,  refused  to  co- 
operate with  them  whole-heartedly  enough  to  make  them 
succeed.  On  the  same  day  I  learned  of  the  success  of  an 
English  official  in  introducing  modern  medicine  and  sur- 
gery into  a  Chinese  city  controlled  by  Great  Britain.  The 
governor  sanctioned  the  use  of  both  Chinese  and  European 
systems  of  treatment  in  the  hospital.  The  patient  could 
choose  either  English  antisepsis  and  other  modern  scien- 
tific treatment  or  he  could  take  the  surgically  dirty  Chinese 
method  of  chasing  off  devils.  In  the  end  the  English 
method  prevailed,  and  prevailed  by  the  wishes  of   the 

19 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZEl^SHIP 

Chinese.  It  took  time,  but  it  ultimately  saved  time  and 
brought  the  results  that  last  through  the  longer  time.  The 
German  method  may  not  have  been  non- Christian,  but  it 
was  certainly  less  Christian  than  the  English  method.  And 
the  experience  in  the  hospital  was  an  object  lesson  in 
democratic  procedure  good  for  the  world  outside  of 
hospitals. 

Questions  for  Thought  and  Discussion 

1.  Is  there  any  divine  right  of  the  people  to  rule? 

2.  In  what  sense  is  the  voice  of  the  people  the  voice  of 
God? 

3.  What  is  the  difference  between  a  politician  and  a 
statesman  ? 

4.  Can  democracy  exist  under  a  king  ? 

5.  Is  it  safe  to  pass  good  laws  before  the  people  are  ready 
for  them? 

6.  Must  we  wait  till  all  the  people  are  ready  for  a  good 
law  before  we  pass  it  ? 

7.  Why  does  autocracy  seem  more  efficient  than  democ- 
racy? 

8.  What  is  your  opinion  of  benevolent  despotism? 


20 


CHAPTER  III 
THE  CHIEF  RIGHT  AND  DUTY 

Amos  7.  10-15;  Mic.  3.  10-12;  Luke  8.  16-18 

It  would  be  utterly  foolish  to  try  to  enumerate  the 
rights  and  duties  of  citizenship.  Life  is  too  short.  Not  a 
day  but  brings  some  new  advantage  from  men's  living 
together  in  groups  and  some  new  obligation  to  make  the 
common  life  richer  and  fuller.  There  are,  however,  some 
rights  and  duties  that  are  almost  one  and  the  same.  Some 
attitudes  and -activities  of  the  members  of  the  group  are 
both  rights  and  duties.  It  is  the  obligation  of  the  citizen 
to  die  for  his  country,  we  often  say,  and  it  is  also  his  privi- 
lege. Much  more  it  is  the  right  and  duty  of  the  members 
of  the  group  to  live  for  the  group. 

Public  Opinion  and  Christian  Ideals 

In  a  brief  discussion  like  ours  it  is  not  wise  to  wander 
too  far  from  the  controlling  centers.  Let  us  say,  then,  that 
it  is  the  primary  duty  of  the  members  of  the  group  to  keep 
the  public  opinion  of  the  group,  on  which  all  group  activity 
depends,  moving  toward  the  Christian  ideals  for  men.  To 
do  this  the  individual  must  first  of  all  free  himself  from 
bondage  to  what  James  Bryce  calls  the  fatalism  of  the 
majority — the  feeling  that  when  the  people  have  passed 
sentence  on  a  matter  that  matter  is  settled.  This  notion 
rests  down  upon  one  of  two  fallacies — either  the  fallacy 
that  the  will  of  the  people  is  some  vast  inevitable  force, 
like  the  procession  of  the  seasons,  against  which  it  is  use- 
less to  protest,  or  the  fallacy  that  when  the  people  speak, 
their  voice  is  the  voice  of  God.  There  is  indeed  something 
like  the  sweep  of  a  mighty  primeval  force  in  a  nation-wide 
movement  of  public  opinion,  and  sometimes  such  a  move- 
ment arises  spontaneously;  but  the  whole  emphasis  on 
propaganda  in  recent  years  shows  that  such  tidal  move- 

21 


CHEISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

ments  can  be,  and,  indeed,  often  are  artificially  produced, 
though  the  masses  of  the  people  may  act  in  -all  integrity 
and  sincerity.  And  the  humblest  citizen  has  the  right  and 
duty  of  trying  to  move  public  opinion  in  the  true  direction. 
As  for  the  voice  of  the  people  being  the  voice  of  God,  that 
all. depends  on  what  the  people  say.  There  is  nothing  im- 
possible in  the  voice  of  the  people's  being  the  voice  of  Satan. 
To  be  sure,  the  voice  of  the  people  is  more  likely  to  be  the 
voice  of  God  than  the  voice  of  the  devil,  for  in  public  de- 
cisions the  people  act  more  unselfishly  than  in  private 
decisions.  The  citizen  can  look  at  a  public  affair  in  a  more 
impartial  fashion  than  at  a  private  affair;  still,  it  is  pos- 
sible for  a  thoroughly  democratic  nation  to  act  in  a  selfish 
and  cruel  manner. 

Intervention  in  Miexico. — For  some  years  following  the 
overthrow  of  Diaz  in  Mexico  there  was  a  campaign  fostered 
by  a  few  powerful  financial  interests  in  the  United  States 
for  intervention  in  Mexico.  The  campaign  did  not  suc- 
ceed, partly  because  the  people  knew  who  were  the  pro- 
moters. The  people  of  the  United  States  were  not  going 
to  war  with  Mexico  just  for  the  benefit  of  a  few  financial 
houses.  Now,  oddly  enough  there  was  more  widespread 
pressure  in  a  certain  European  democracy  to  urge  the 
United  States  to  intervene  in  Mexico  than  in  the  United 
States  itself,  the  reason  being  that  the  European  country 
held  a  large  number  of  shares  in  Mexican  enterprises,  and 
these  shares  were  widely  distributed  among  those  who  had 
only  modest  amounts  of  savings  to  invest.  It  would  have 
been  easy  to  start  a  popular  movement  in  that  nation  to 
support  the  United  States  in  an  attack  on  Mexico. 

The  Value  op  Publicity 

It  is  the  chief  business  of  the  citizen  in  a  democracy  to 
keep  the  streams  flowing  from  his  own  life  into  the  general 
current  of  public  opinion  pure  and  sweet,  and  it  is  also  his 
right  and  duty  to  see  that  all  other  contributing  streams 
are  pure.  This  does  not  mean  that  it  is  the  Christian  duty 
of  the  individual  citizen  to  enter  upon  a  fussy  inquisition 
into  the  lives  of  his  neighbors,  but  it  does  mean  that,  so 
far  as  possible,  the  forces  that  beget  public  opinion  shall 
^work  in  the  Light  of  full  day.    Nobody  can  see  far  down 


THE  CHIEF  EIGHT  AND  DUTY 

into  the  depths  of  that  inner  consciousness  where  the  think- 
ing of  millions  of  persons  goes  forward,  but  the  processes 
by  which  that  thinking  is  controlled  and  put  to  work  for 
the  purposes  of  various  powerful  individuals  or  groups  can 
be  seen.  These  processes  should  be  lifted  into  the  full 
light,  that  the  light  and  air  may  keep  them  pure. 

Publicity  and  politics. — We  have  won  some  victories  in 
America  toward  the  overthrow  of  evil  public  servants.  The 
writer  of  these  pages  is  just  past  fifty  years  old.  He  can 
remember  the  various  steps  by  which  the  professional 
politician  has  been  reduced  to  relative  harmlessness  and 
has  even  been  made  useful.  A  few  attempts  at  bribery 
punished  by  long  prison  sentences  helped  clear  the  air, 
and  the  lesson  was  reenforced  by  the  common  knowledge 
that  the  public  was  "dead  anxious^'  to  know  the  names  of 
all  politicians  who  would  give  or  take  bribes.  Publicity 
turned  on  the  politician  has  helped  him.  He  is  not  yet  the 
most  respectable  citizen  in  the  community,  but  he  is  better 
than  he  used  to  be.  The  knowledge  he  possesses  as  to  how 
to  work  political  or  legislative  machinery  can  serve  the 
public  good.  If  delegates  to  a  Methodist  General  Confer- 
ence find  themselves  lost  because  of  ignorance  and  inex- 
pertness  through  about  the  first  two  weeks  of  a  month's 
session,  we  can  see  the  advantage  of  having  measurably 
expert  men  handling  the  state  machinery — ^if  it  is  aU  done 
in  the  full  light. 

Publicity  and  organized  wealth. — ^The  outstanding  dan- 
ger even  in  democratically  ruled  countries  is  the  power 
of  organized  wealth.  Here  again  the  citizen  has  the  right 
and  the  duty  of  asking  for  publicity,  for  if  the  light  is  not 
pitilessly  thrown  upon  the  operations  of  wealth  in  relation 
to  the  public  welfare,  these  operations  may  one  day  call 
forth  a  wild  reaction  that  will  go  further  than  the  most 
extreme  social  revolutionist  in  his  calmer  moments  would 
approve.  The  one  force  that  selfish  greed  fears  is  the  force 
of  public  opinion,  and  the  force  that  greed  to-day  most 
definitely  seeks  to  control  is  the  force  of  public  opinion. 

Throwing  light  on  corporate  activities. — I  am  not 
charging  that  huge  aggregations  of  wealth  deliberately 
employ  money  in  corrupt  ways.  There  may  be  outright 
buying  of  legislative  or  administrative  support  here  and 

23 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

there,  but  that  is  too  dangerous.  The  actual  method  is 
quite  otherwise.  A  corporation  establishes  a  mill  in  a  small 
town.  Most  of  the  people  in  the  town  work  in  the  mill. 
Hence,  when  the  town  officials  are  elected  they  are  neces- 
sarily chosen  in  considerable  part  from  the  mill  men.  The 
corporation  maintains  a  good  hospital,  from  which  those 
outside  its  own  employees  are  not  excluded.  The  cor- 
poration helps  in  the  support  of  the  church.  And  so  on 
and  on  through  a  story  too  long  to  tell.  Let  the  lines  of 
the  corporation  or  corporations  reach  out  to  the  ends  of  a 
state  or  a  nation,  and  you  have  a  system  for  the  control  of 
public  opinion  in  its  relation  to  that  corporation  which 
nothing  short  of  a  moral  earthquake  can  upset.  Yes, 
something  can  break  it  or  hold  it  to  right  channels — ^the 
light  of  publicity,  which  brings  all  this  out  where  we  can 
see  and  criticize.  With  all  the  corporation's  actions  legiti- 
mate the  less  objection  the  corporation  should  have  to  al- 
lowing its  deeds  to  come  to  the  light.  And  the  question- 
able aspects  of  the  activities  of  organized  wealth  should 
certainly  be  pulled  up  into  the  glare  of  the  sunlight.  I 
was  once  summoned  to  appear  before  a  United  States 
Senate  committee  to  give  testimony  concerning  the  activi- 
ties of  a  well-known  corporation.  One  of  the  members  of 
that  committee  was  declared  in  reputable  financial  journals 
of  the  United  States  to  be  among  the  two  or  three  largest 
shareholders  in  the  corporation  under  investigation.  Do  I 
mean  that  the  presence  of  this  financier  on  that  committee 
vras  wrong  ?  Not  at  all.  He  may  have  been  just  as  deeply 
sincere  in  getting  at  the  facts  as  any  one  else.  Only,  there 
should  have  been  the  firmest  demand  for  light  as  to  the 
relation  of  this  committeeman  to  the  corporation. 

Controlling  the  News 

One  desperate  need  of  the  American  democracy  is  a 
source  where  we  can  get  the  news  upon  which  to  frame 
just  opinions.  The  corporation  has  a  right  to  buy  the  con- 
trolling shares  in  newspapers  and  to  say  what  it  pleases  in 
the  editorial  columns.  The  danger,  however,  is  not  in  the 
editorial  columns  but  in  the  news  columns.  And  the  dan- 
ger here  is  not  in  any  deliberate  falsification.  The  news- 
gatherer,  or  the  city  editor,  for  the  corporation-owned 

24. 


THE  CHIEF  EIGHT  AND  DUTY 

newspaper  sees  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  system  of 
which  he  is  a  part.  He  is  not  dishonest  in  reporting  from 
his  own  angle;  the  trouble  is  with  the  angle.  When  the 
popular  demand  "What  are  the  facts  ?''  becomes  irresistible, 
the  people  will  get  the  facts.  Then  it  will  appear,  not  that 
the  newspapers  have  been  lying,  but  that  they  have  come 
to  the  inspection  of  facts  of  public  significance  from  the 
point  of  view  of  interested  parties,  and  not  from  that  of 
public  servants. 

The  spy  system. — We  hold  no  brief  against  organized 
wealth.  The  world  would  not  get  far  without  organized 
wealth.  But  if  we  believe  that  in  the  ordering  of  the  uni- 
verse people  come  to  their  best  under  a  democratic  society 
we  must  insist  that  organized  wealth  purge  itself  of  tiiose 
elements  in  itself  which  work  against  democracy.  Think 
of  the  extent  of  the  spy  system  to-day  in  American  in- 
dustry. The  most  prominent  business  concerns  in  the 
United  States  openly  admit — or  admit  on  witness  stands — 
that  they  hire  spies  to  spy  upon  their  own  workmen,  that 
they  add  to  the  wages  of  workmen  for  tattling  on  their 
fellows — about  as  the  despised  "teacher's  pet"  of  our  school 
days  used  to  tattle — that  they  pay  detectives  to  join  labor 
unions  and  reveal  the  secrets  of  those  unions  to  corpora- 
tions, that  they  aid  and  abet  lying  and  deceit  in  its  meanest 
forms.  If  industry  cannot  get  on  without  such  methods, 
we  must  not  be  surprised  if  the  radical  keeps  on  asking  if 
this  is  not  too  much  of  a  price  to  pay  for  the  existence  of 
the  industry.  But  the  evil  is  remediable  without  tearing 
down  the  industry. 

Publicity  and  the  unions. — And  now  someone  says  to 
himself  that  all  this  is  grossly  unfair;  that  laboring  men, 
organized  in  vast  unions,  seek  to  control  public  opinion 
just  as  truly  as  does  organized  wealth.  There  is  no  reason 
why  I  should  defend  labor  unions.  They  have  done  enough 
wrong,  we  all  know.  But  anybody  who  has  ever  had  ex- 
perience with  labor  unions  knows  that  with  all  their  misuse 
of  force,  and  all  their  reliance  on  the  strike,  and  all  their 
attempt  to  control  congressional  and  legislative  elections, 
they  are  much  more  open  to  publicity  than  the  forces  of 
organized  wealth.  This  does  not  mean  that  they  are  neces- 
sarily any  more  virtuous  than  the  agents  of  organized 

25 


GHEISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

capital.  The  very  numerousness  of  a  trade  union  prevents 
its  plans  from  being  secret.  The  labor  paper  is  openly  and 
frankly  "labor.^^  The  trade  union  is  much  more  open 
than  the  jSnancial  organization  and  can  be  made  more  open 
still.  Strangely  enough,  a  part  of  the  opposition  to  unions 
comes  from  the  very  openness  with  which  they  work.  And 
they  cannot  do  much  with  detectives  as  their  agents.  The 
spies  of  the  labor  union  can  hardly  get  into  the  inner  coun- 
cils of  organized  finance. 

The  Chief  Right  op  the  Chbistian"  Citizeit 

But  to  get  back  to  the  main  point.  The  chief  right  of 
the  citizen  is  to  demand  that  the  public  opinion  that  shapes 
so  much  of  his  life  shall  be  substantially  Christian,  and 
that  is  his  chief  obligation  as  a  citizen.  He  must  ask  that 
public  opinion  shall  aim  at  the  best  for  men  and  that  it 
shall  not  yield  to  the  interests  of  any  one  class  or  group. 
This  applies,  of  course,  to  the  efforts  even  of  religious 
bodies  to  control  public  opinion  by  any  other  methods  than 
open  and  public  discussions.  It  is  just  as  much  a  sin  for 
a  church,  Catholic  or  Protestant,  to  seek  secretly  to  manip- 
ulate the  springs  of  public  opinion  as  for  a  corporation  or 
a  labor  union  to  do  so.  It  is  wrong  for  a  church  to  seek 
any  control  except  for  the  interests  of  the  public  welfare. 
Let  everything  come  out  into  the  light.  The  business  of 
the  Christian  democrat  is  to  be  a  light  bringer  and  a  light 
seeker.  The  control  of  public  opinion  which  he  seeks  is 
that  which  persuades  the  people  on  their  own  account  to 
move  toward  the  highest  life. 

Questions  fob  Thought  and  Discussion 

1.  President  Lowell  says  that  true  public  opinion  must 
be  public  and  must  be  opinion.  What  do  you  interpret  this 
statement  to  mean  ? 

2.  What  kind  of  training  is  necessary  before  a  man  can 
correctly  report  what  he  sees  ? 

3.  It  is  absurd  to  say  that  masses  of  men  often  go  wrong 
in  a  public  vote  because  they  are  deliberately  wicked. 
Name  some  causes  that  do  lead  to  mistaken  popular  ver^ 
diets, 

96 


THE  CHIEF  EIGHT  AND  DUTY 

4.  Can  you  think  of  any  public  rights  which  do  not 
imply  corresponding  obligations? 

6.  How  would  you  define  propaganda? 

6.  Can  a  business  corporation  or  a  trade  union  rightly 
remain  silent  before  a  reasonable  inquiry  about  features  of 
their  activity  which  affect  the  public  welfare  ? 

7.  How  can  the  church  help  toward  making  public  sen- 
timent Christian? 

8.  Can  you  see  any  signs  that  American  public  opinion 
is  becoming  more  Christian? 


27 


CHAPTER  IV 

MAJORITIES  AND  MINORITIES 

Dan.  3.  13-18;  Acts  7.  51-60 

A  Menace  to  Democeacy 

We  have  said  that  the  voice  of  the  majority  may  not,  on 
a  particular  occasion,  be  at  all  the  voice  of  God.  But  in 
carrying  out  its  own  decrees  the  majority  may  be  a  more 
dreadful  tyrant  than  any  individual  despot  the  world  has 
known.  It  is  said  that  Bishop  Gore,  a  celebrated  leader 
of  the  Anglican  Church,  went  home  depressed  after  a 
visit  to  the  United  States  in  the  closing  months  of  the  war, 
exclaiming  that  the  terrible  unity  of  the  United  States  in 
the  war  attitude  was  a  veritable  menace  to  democracy.  At 
first  glance  it  might  seem  that  the  bishop,  assuming  him 
to  be  correctly  reported,  had  got  things  topsy-turvy.  The 
United  States  was  fighting  a  war  for  democracy.  ^  Why 
complain  of  her  terrible  unity?  The  usual  complaint  has 
been  that  the  United  States  lacks  unity.  But  what  the 
bishop  probably  meant  was  sound  enough.  It  is  a  terrible 
thing  for  a  democracy  to  become  so  unified  as  not  to  toler- 
ate criticism  of  itself.  During  the  course  of  the  Great  War 
the  situation  became  so  tense  in  the  United  States  that  the 
late  Theodore  Roosevelt  was  almost  the  only  citizen  who 
could  safely  utter  even  legitimate  criticism  of  the  course 
of  the  government.  If  only  former  Presidents  of  the 
United  States  can  utter  criticisms  of  the  government  in 
time  of  war,  we  are  in  a  bad  way.  We  are  not  dealing 
with  academic  problems  now.  Assuming  that  speech  moves 
within  the  limits  of  manifest  decency  and  is  not  aiming  at 
incendiarism,  the  only  safety  for  democracy  is  in  allowing 
discussion  to  go  forward  unhindered.  The  reasons  for 
this  are  manifest  at  a  glance. 

Minoeities  Within  a  State 
The  rights  of  higher  education. — To  begin  with  let  us 

28 


MAJORITIES  AND  MINORITIES 

remind  ourselves  that  there  are  in  every  nation  organiza- 
tions that  do  not  include  all  the  nation  and  are  therefore 
minorities,  which  have  rights  as  against  even  the  nation 
itself.  Take  the  higher-educational  system  of  a  nation. 
The  obligation  of  that  system  is  to  the  truth.  The  nation 
should  indeed  see  that  the  system  violates  none  of  the  laws 
of  the  land.  The  search  for  the  truth  would  not  be  a  fair 
defense  for  housing  students  in  unsanitary  buildings  or  for 
exempting  them  from  the  common  laws  against  admittedly 
criminal  action.  The  state  has  a  right  also  to  inquire  into 
the  educational  efficiency  of  schools  of  all  sorts  and  to  say 
what  ones  are  and  what  are  not  attaining  a  recognized 
scholastic  standard.  But  when  the  state  sets  itself  up  as  a 
censor  of  teaching  it  puts  itself  in  as  ridiculous  a  plight  as 
the  late  Kaiser  of  Germany  when  he  issued  an  ultimatum 
as  to  what  university  professors  ought  to  say  about  the 
influence  of  Babylon  on  shaping  the  Christian  Bible. 
Without  discussing  the  abstract  question  of  state  sover- 
eignty we  are  on  safest  ground  when  we  admit  that  an 
institution  of  high  educational  standards  has  a  measure 
of  independence  as  over  against  any  social  group  whatso- 
ever. 

Chnrch  and  state. — For  further  illustration  we  may 
think  of  the  place  of  the  Christian  church  in  a  nation. 
The  relation  of  church  and  state  is  an  old,  old  enigma, 
many  phases  of  which  do  not  have  the  slightest  interest  for 
an  American.  We  are  not  interested,  for  example,  in  the 
question  of  a  state  church.  We  concede  a  measure  of  state 
control  over  churches.  If  church  trustees  are  to  handle 
property  they  must  act  in  accordance  with  the  state  laws 
governing  property  transactions.  If  churches  are  to  ask 
people  to  assemble  together  they  must  make  the  conditions 
of  the  assembly  such  as  not  to  violate  sanitary  regulations 
or  fire  laws  which  the  community  has  established  for  its 
own  safety.  But  the  state  must  recognize  the  church's 
liberty  of  prophecy.  If  state  officials  do  not  like  what  is 
said  in  church  pulpits  they  have  a  right  to  say  what  they 
please  in  rejoinder  but  they  have  no  right  to  take  state 
action.  In  general  there  is  adequate  recognition  of  this 
principle.  The  only  danger  just  now  is  that  in  unofficial 
ways  the  state  will  seek  to  make  the  church  an  adjunct  to 

29 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

itself.  We  say  "just  now/^  We  mean  rather  tlio  times  of 
crisis  like  that  of  the  last  war,  in  which  the  churches  lent 
themselves  to  the  state  as  recruiting  agencies  and  as 
agencies  for  keeping  up  the  fighting  morale.  It  is  the 
business  of  the  church  in  general  to  rebuke  war  spirit  in 
case  the  war  is  one  of  conquest,  however  disguised,  and  to 
keep  the  ideals  of  the  conflict  as  high  as  possible  if  the  war 
is  one  of  self-defense.  What  actually  happened  was  that  in 
their  pleas  for  war  three  or  four  years  ago  the  utterances 
of  some  church  leaders  went  back  to  the  pre-Christian 
stage,  to  the  pre-Old  Testament  stage,  to  the  prehuman 
stage.  The  explanation  was  that  an  onsweeping  wave  of 
public  opinion  was  carrying  before  it  state  and  church 
alike  and  was  applauding  some  servants  of  the  church  in 
unchristian  utterance.  It  is  the  business  of  the  church 
to  be  in  the  minority  against  an  unchristian  majority. 
How  far  a  Christian  churchman  should  go  in  criticism  of 
or  resistance  to  a  state  is  a  matter  for  the  individual  con- 
science. It  is  almost  funny,  for  example,  for  the  church- 
man to  raise  the  cry  of  "anarchy''  against  a  conscientious 
objector  and  then  go  to  church  and  sing  about  the  fathers 
who,  "chained  in  prisons  dark,  were  still  in  heart  and 
conscience  free.''  How  inspiring  also  under  such  circum- 
stances to  sing,  "How  sweet  would  be  the  children's  fate 
if  they,  like"  the  fathers,  "could  die  for  Thee" ! 

Conscientious  objectors. — ^We  have  incidentally  men- 
tioned conscientious  objectors  to  war.  War  regulations  in 
various  countries  take  account  of  such  objectors  and  aim 
not  to  violate  too  much  the  conscience  of  the  opponent  to 
war.  But  we  in  America  have  not  an  enviable  record  in 
dealing  with  conscientious  objectors.  There  are  some  wars 
in  which  I  would  willingly  fight  or  in  which,  being  myself 
above  the  draft  age,  I  would  encourage  others  to  fight.  I 
know,  too,  that  conscientious  objectors  in  the  flesh  are 
likely  to  be  disagreeable.  Most  martyrs  are  disagreeable. 
They  have  sharp  angles  and  ugly  corners.  Very  possibly 
in  the  old  days  of  the  burning  of  martyrs  many  a  neighbor 
of  the  martyrs,  who  heartily  disapproved  of  the  burnings, 
was  nevertheless  relieved  when  some  of  the  martyrs  were 
gone.  No  doubt,  also,  among  the  so-called  conscientious 
objectprs  in  the  last  war  there  were  many  cowards,  dead- 

30 


MAJORITIES  AND  MINORITIES 

beats,  idlers,  and  fools.  But  when  all  this  is  admitted,  it 
must  be  borne  in  mind  that  there  were  others,  and  that 
those  others,  who  stood  conscientiously  for  what  seemed  to 
them  to  be  an  absolute  ideal  of  the  dignity  of  a  man's  life, 
are  among  those  who  make  human  life,  in  the  long  run, 
worth  living.  To  abuse  such  a  conscientious  objector  is  to 
abuse  one  of  the  true  exemplars  of  what  democracy  should 
ever  seek  to  realize. 

Minorities  Opposed  to  the  State 

Suppose  we  look  now  at  minorities  who  challenge  even 
the  form  of  the  state  itself.  This  brings  us  near  burning 
debates  of  our  own  day.  The  only  safety  is  to  deal  with 
such  challenges  by  full  and  free  discussion.  For  the  sake 
of  illustration  we  take  a  debate  that  has  no  special  signifi- 
cance for  the  United  States  and  which,  therefore,  is  not 
likely  to  raise  heated  argument.  We  look  for  a  moment  at 
a  discussion  going  on  in  England.  The  discussion  has  to 
do  with  the  organization  of  the  state  itself.  One  party, 
under  the  leadership  of  men  like  G.  D.  H.  Cole,  insist  that 
the  English  system  of  government,  based  as  it  is  on  terri- 
torial representation,  is  inadequate  for  twentieth-century 
purposes.  Cole  and  his  followers  insist  that  the  governing 
body  shall  be  divided  into  at  least  two  branches,  one  repre- 
senting the  nation  as  a  group  of  consumers,  and  the  other 
and  more  important  representing  the  producers.  A  man 
knows  more  about  his  work  than  about  the  particular  bit 
of  territory  in  which  he  lives.  Let  a  man  sit  in  a  governing 
body  as  a  representative  of  a  trade,  he  contends,  rather 
than  as  a  representative  of  a  community  if  we  are  to  have 
efficiency  in  government. 

Guild-socialism  advocates. — To  the  honor  of  England 
be  it  said  that  she  allows  full  discussion  of  such  questions 
on  their  merits.  Why  not  ?  Well,  for  one  reason,  the  fore- 
going proposition  has  a  tincture  of  bolshevism.  There  is  a 
suggestion  of  sovietism  in  Cole's  guild  socialism.  But  the 
English  have  not  done  what  they  easily  could  have  done : 
they  have  not  made  discussion  impossible  by  shouting 
"Bolshevism  V  One  of  the  most  able  critics  of  guild  social- 
ism is  J.  A.  Hobson,  a  liberal  of  tendencies  that  in  America 
would  probably  be  called  radical.     Cole  insists  that  the 

31 


CHEISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

earning  of  daily  bread  is  to  be  the  chief  phase  of  a  man's 
activity  under  any  form  of  social  organization.  Hobson, 
on  the  other  hand,  pleads  for  such  an  organization  of  in- 
dustry as  will  make  the  earning  of  a  livelihood  bulk  less 
and  less  in  human  life  and  will  leave  men  more  and  more 
free  to  release  other  forms  of  energy;  in  which  case  the 
territorial  community  might  form  the  ideal  unit  for  human 
activity.  If  England  had  stamped  out  the  discussion  with 
the  cry  of  "Bolshevism/^  men  like  Hobson  would  have 
joined  in  the  protest  against  such  violation  of  free  speech, 
and  Hobson  and  Cole  ^7ould  have  been  classified  together. 
What  good  there  may  be  in  guild  socialism  would  never 
have  had  a  chance  for  consideration.  As  it  is,  whatever 
of  value  there  may  be  in  the  Cole  suggestions  probably  will 
one  day  be  fitted  somehow  into  the  English  system. 

Extreme  radicalism. — But  what  in  the  world  are  we  to 
do  about  all  the  wild  fellows  who  talk  socialism  and  com- 
munism and  bolshevism?  The  question  is  not  mine,  but 
that  of  the  man  who  lumps  all  these  things  together.  To 
begin  with  we  might  remind  ourselves  that  there  are  more 
than  a  hundred  million  people  in  the  United  States,  and 
that  they  are  on  the  whole  conservative.  They  are  not 
likely  to  adopt  any  radically  changed  social  system  in  a 
rush.  So  far  as  the  chances  of  adoption  of  radical  doc- 
trines by  the  United  States  go,  we  may  just  as  well  calm 
ourselves.  And,  having  calmed  ourselves,  it  may  be  just 
as  well  for  us  to  look  any  radical  system  in  the  face  and 
talk  the  whole  problem  out.  Then,  in  that  cooler  mood,  we 
may  be  able  to  see  the  measure  of  good  there  may  be  in 
suggestions  however  radical.  Good  is  good  wherever  found. 
We  shall  certainly  not  go  far  bad  by  recognizing  good. 
Further,  if  we  look  at  these  systems  in  this  discriminating 
way  we  shall  be  able  to  attack  the  systems  at  the  point  of 
their  weakness.  The  sad  fact  is  that  about  as  much  harm 
is  done  by  unwise  attack  on  radical  systems  by  ignoramus 
conservatives  as  by  the  positive  advances  of  the  systems 
themselves,  for  the  reason  that  under  these  circumstances 
the  well-informed  radical  wins  in  the  argument,  and 
thereby  the  belief  is  encouraged  that  the  intellectual  merits 
of  the  controversy  are  with  the  radical  side ;  which  may  be 
far  from  the  truth.    Finally,  we  must  remember  that  the 

32 


MAJORITIES  AND  MINORITIES 

spirit  of  protest  voiced  by  radicalism  mnst  never  b«  disre- 
garded. Radicalism  of  the  most  extreme  stamp  has  often 
a  value  as  a  red  light  to  keep  us  on  the  true  path.  And 
extreme  radicalism  loses  its  explosive  danger  when  it  is 
brought  out  of  the  cellars  and  attics  and  put  on  the  soap 
boxes  at  the  corners  of  the  streets.  Those  anxious  souls 
among  us  who  object  to  the  soap  boxes  in  the  public  squares 
would  better  remember  that  it  is  safer  to  have  the  ranting 
in  the  public  square  than  in  the  back  aUey,  safer  to  have 
radicals  talking  at  the  top  of  their  voices  than  talking  in 
whispers.  Democracy  has  no  place  for  whisperings  on  social 
questions.  And  while  we  are  encouraging  radicals  to  speak 
up  with  their  arguments,  let  us  also  encourage  the  con- 
servatives to  speak  up.  When  a  great  corporation  or 
other  organization  in  a  democracy  answers  legitimate 
criticism  by  cynical  silence,  it  sins  against  democracy. 
For  when  a  minority  with  power  in  any  form  sits  dumb 
before  just  questioning,  the  critics  are  likely  to  resort  to 
more  violent  methods  to  attract  the  attention  of  that 
minority. 

QUESTIOITS  FOR  THOUGHT  AND  DISCUSSION 

1.  Name  some  historic  crises  in  which  the  voice  of  the 
minority  has  been  the  voice  of  God. 

2.  Name  some  of  the  dangers  in  silencing  debate  on 
public  questions. 

3.  What  social  groups  in  the  United  States  can  be  de- 
pended upon  to  check  movements  toward  destructive 
radicalism  ? 

4.  Have  you  known  instances  in  our  country  of  com- 
paratively sudden  changes  of  minorities  into  majorities? 

5.  What  happens  to  democracy  when  the  majority 
tramples  upon  the  rights  of  the  minority? 

6.  What  are  some  of  the  rights  of  the  minority  which 
the  majority  should  respect? 

7.  What  limits  can  be  rightly  set  upon  freedom  of 
speech  ? 

8.  What  limits  should  a  member  of  a  minority  set  for 
himself  in  criticiziiig  a  majority? 


83 


CHAPTER  V 

AN  EDUCATED  CITIZENRY 

Prov.  8.  1-11;  29.  7,  8;  Matt.  7.  21-27;  2  Tim.  3.  16,  17 

We  have  said  with  wearisome  iteration  that  one  power 
of  a  social  group  is  that  of  drawing  out  the  human  possi- 
bilities of  the  individual  members  of  the  group  into  ex- 
pression. All  social  life  can  be  educative  in  this  drawing 
out  the  capabilities  of  the  separate  persons.  But  the  group 
can  be  repressive  also,  as  we  have  tried  to  say  in  the  dis- 
cussion of  the  sweeping  and  leveling  power  of  public  senti- 
ment. It  is  a  duty  then,  if  a  social  group  is  to  achieve  the 
highest  and  best  for  its  members,  to  install  and  carry  on 
deliberate  and  purposeful  systems  of  education  in  order  to 
make  the  most  of  the  educative  power  of  society  itself  and 
to  guard  society  from  becoming  repressive  in  relation  to 
the  individual  person. 

Conserving  Human  Resources 

Education  and  individual  genius. — It  may  not  indeed 
be  the  business  of  a  public-educational  system  to  discover 
the  individual  genius,  but  we  may  remark  that  if  a  public- 
educational  scheme  should  occasionally  discover  a  Shake- 
speare or  a  Newton  or  a  Darwin  or  any  mind  of  the  first 
rank,  the  educational  system  would  by  that  discovery 
justify  itself  in  the  loftiest  degree.  Such  men  become 
possessions  of  all  of  society,  and  the  system  is  justified  which 
discovers  them.  A  pertinent  charge  often  brought  against 
society  as  now  organized,  especially  in  its  industrial  fea- 
tures, is  that  the  system  makes  for  the  smothering  out  of 
talent,  except  that  talent  which  teUs  directly  in  industrial 
success.  It  is  indeed  true  that  genius  is  likely  to  find  a 
way  to  seK-expression ;  still,  there  are  some  species  of 
genius  that  a  massive  social  system  organized  as  is  ours  is 
not  likely  to  call  forth.     Genius  in  art  or  literature  or 

34 


AN  EDUCATED  CITIZENRY 

philosopliy  or  the  rarer  abstract  thinking  may  go  hand  in 
hand  with  a  lack  of  that  self-assertiveness  which  can  be 
depended  on  to  report  itself  under  modern  competitive 
conditions.  A  college  professor  of  recognized  standing  has 
recently  declared  that  the  mass  of  workers  in  English  and 
American  industry  are  getting  about  what  they  deserve 
and  are  about  where  they  ought  to  be;  that  if  they  knew 
more  or  had  more  will  power  they  would  not  be  where  they 
are:  hence  an  encomium  on  the  virtues  of  the  industrial 
system  as  a  force  in  putting  men  where  they  ought  to  be 
and  in  keeping  them  there.  All  this  overlooks  the  fact 
that  along  with  poor  industrial  ability  may  go  extraor- 
dinary abilities  of  a  much  lovelier  quality  than  the  com- 
petitive system  of  industry  can  ever  produce.  The  soul 
richly  endowed  with  sympathy  is  not  obviously  destined  to 
succeed  in  the  scramble  for  this  world's  goods.  Who  of  us 
who  have  worked  in  mills  or  on  farms  does  not  recall  men 
of  power  of  statement  or  of  artistic  expression  or  of 
philosophic  theorizing  that  might  have  come  to  excellent 
fruitage  if  given  a  chance  ? 

ProTiding  opportunity  for  the  poetic  mind. — The  only 
course  that  will  save  a  democratic  society  from  the  charge 
of  wasting  its  priceless  human  resources  will  be  an  educa- 
tional system  that  will  carry  every  mind  far  enough  to  see 
what  its  capabilities  are  and  will  provide  that  any  mind  of 
promise  gets  its  chance.  The  educational  world  was  inter- 
ested some  months  ago  to  learn  that  Miami  University,  one 
of  the  State  universities  of  Ohio,  had  announced  a  fellow- 
ship for  American  poetry,  the  income  of  the  fellowship  to 
be  granted  year  by  year  to  whatever  poet  or  poets  the  uni- 
versity might  choose,  the  poet  to  use  the  income  to  aid  in 
securing  ampler  opportunity  for  poetic  utterance.  We  had 
hardly  expected  this  from  a  State  university.  We  would 
have  more  readily  expected  the  university  to  set  aside 
funds  for  the  discovery  of  a  new  earth  fertilizer.  But 
Miami  has  taken  the  lead  in  rendering  a  rare  service  to  a 
democracy.  Much  as  we  deplore  the  selfishness  of  old-time 
kings  we  must  remember  that  they  often  rendered  social 
service  by  making  themselves  patrons  of  art  and  learning. 
Democracy  will  one  day  be  judged  by  the  objects  it 
patronizes. 

35 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

Teaching  the  Use  of  Tools 

Looking  now  at  broader  reasons  for  a  nation's  seeking 
an  educated  citizenry,  we  may  say  that  the  nation  should 
first  of  all  put  the  pupil  in  possession  of  useful  tool  studies. 
Language  is  a  tool.  Some  processes  in  arithmetic  are 
tools.  Scientific  method  is  a  tool.  These  tools  have  been 
fashioned  by  the  efforts  of  countless  generations.  They 
are  part  of  our  social  heritage.  Society  wisely  takes  the 
child  at  six  years  and  keeps  him  out  of  the  world's  work 
for  eight  or  ten  years  to  give  him  mastery  of  these  tools. 
The  ten  years  thus  devoted  will  render  the  remaining  four 
or  five  decades  of  the  pupil's  life  more  than  ten  times  as 
effective  as  they  would  otherwise  have  been. 

Expert  service.— The  object  of  this  e'ducation  is  not  only 
to  make  the  child  himself  a  capable  tool  user  but  to  beget 
in  him  respect  for  all  experts  who  are  expert.  Mr.  Charles 
E.  Hughes  once  said  that  one  test  of  democracy's  power  to 
survive  will  be  its  attitude  toward  the  expert.  Political 
and  industrial  rulers  have  never  been  lacking  in  their  ap- 
preciation of  experts.  Democracy  must  be  likewise  appre- 
ciative. Just  think  of  the  range  of  problems  coming  upon 
men  to-day  through  the  congestion  of  the  world's  popula- 
tion. In  the  old  days  we  used  to  sing  of  the  old  oaken 
bucket  that  hung  in  the  well.  In  those  days  all  we  had  to 
do  to  tell  if  the  water  was  good  was  to  see  if  it  was  clear. 
With  no  neighbors  living  nearer  than  a  half  a  mile,  the 
danger  of  contamination  was  not  great,  though  moss  is 
always  a  bad  sign  on  buckets.  In  these  days  the  con- 
gestion of  population  makes  wells  unsafe.  To  construct 
a  modern  water  system  the  finest  grade  of  expert  service  is 
required.  To  see  that  the  water  is  safe  delicate  chemical 
and  bacteriological  tests  must  be  utiKzed.  If  we  will 
not  heed  experts  we  shall  probably  be  wiped  out  with 
plague  as  the  congestion  of  population  continues.  The 
scientific  method  consists  somewhat  in  the  mastery  of  in- 
struments of  precision,  and  only  the  expert  can  handle  such 
instruments.  We  must  have  a  citizenry  that  will  heed 
experts.  Granted  that  the  expert  must  be  judged  by  his 
results,  the  processes  themselves  must  be  taken  on  trust. 
The  old  doctrine  that  any  man  is  the  equal  of  any  other  in 

36 


AN  EDUCATED  CITIZENEY 

every  respect  is  gone  forever.  Even  the  chnrch  cannot  sur- 
vive as  a  socially  useful  agent  unless  it  heeds  the  expert 
and  follows  the  scientific  method  even  in  the  upbuilding  of 
souls. 

The  Study  of  Life  Ideals 

But  there  is  something  more  important  than  regard  for 
the  expert.  Society  takes  youth  into  the  schools  not  only 
to  give  him  tool  knowledge  but  also  to  make  him  thoughtful 
as  to  the  aims  of  life  itself.  More  important  than  the  use 
of  the  tool  is  the  reason  for  that  use.  Language  is  not 
merely  a  tool  study  but  a  study  of  the  ideals  that  have 
colored  the  thinking  of  the  leaders  of  the  race. 

The  control  of  social  movements. — In  modern  communi- 
ties we  have  developed  a  public  opinion  that  is  the  greatest 
social  force  on  earth.  How  important,  then,  to  have  edu- 
cation go  far  enough  at  least  to  make  the  citizens  thought- 
ful !  Social  changes  move  to-day  with  terrific  speed.  We 
know  how  dangerous  it  is  for  scientists  to  invent  fast- 
going  machines  if  they  do  not  at  the  same  time  devise 
ways  of  stopping  them  quickly.  I  was  once  riding  on  a 
railroad  train  on  which  the  air-brake  system  gave  out. 
The  conductor  announced  that  he  would  try  to  make  his 
run  using  the  old-fashioned  hand-brakes.  The  result  was 
that  we  ran  past  every  station  and  then  had  to  back  up  to 
it,  illustrating  by  allegory  what  happens  to  social  move- 
ments when  not  under  control. 

The  speeding  up  of  social  action. — It  will  be  a  grievous 
mistake  however  if  we  plead  for  public  education  only  on 
the  ground  that  reflection  of  the  thoughtful  type  tends  to 
slow  social  action  down.  It  is  much  more  important  that 
some  forms  of  social  action  be  speeded  up.  The  reason  we 
do  not  speed  ourselves  to  the  removal  of  outstanding  evils 
is  that  we  are  not  thoughtful.  To  take  things  just  as  they 
are  is  not  the  mark  of  thoughtfuhiess  but  is  sheer  sluggish 
inertia.  Better  have  the  overrestless  intellects  among  us 
prying  into  everything  than  to  have  a  social  system  "caked 
over,'*  as  Bagehot  would  say,  with  callous  indifference. 
Why  should  there  be  so  much  poverty  on  earth?  Is  there 
no  way  of  getting  enough  from  the  earth  to  keep  the  vast 
majority  of  the  race  above  the  mere  subsistence  level? 

37 


CHEISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

Granting  the  inequalities  of  endowment  and  opportunity, 
which  we  have  to  admit,  why  should  there  be  so  much  in- 
equality? Possibly  some  of  the  questions  are  insoluble, 
but  there  is  some  value  in  finding  out  if  a  question  is  un- 
answerable. Much  of  the  progress  of  the  race  has  come 
through  putting  questions  that  have  proved  insoluble.  He 
who  finds  that  there  is  no  thoroughfare  in  a  given  quarter 
may  be  a  benefactor.  His  failure  may  help  others  to  the 
true  path.  The  instant  men  begin  to  think  hard,  that 
instant  some  degree  of  social  progress  is  assured.  Here  at 
least  is  part  of  the  rejoinder  to  the  charge  often  heard  that 
educational  systems,  colleges  and  universities  especially, 
fall  under  the  control  of  the  so-called  possessing  classes 
to  the  harm  of  society  in  general.  Sympathizing  as  I  do 
with  all  effort  to  make  the  educational  system  the  servant 
of  the  people,  I  must  say  that  this  objection,  pertinent  as 
it  is  in  part,  overlooks  some  facts.  The  truth  is  that  it  is 
impossible  to  begin  seriously  to  study  the  vital  questions 
without  some  light  breaking  on  the  mind  of  the  student. 
The  charge  is  better  raised  in  another  form — ^that  an 
avowedly  reactionary  school  will  provoke  to  ill-considered 
radicalism.  I  once  knew  a  theological  institute  that  sought 
to  lock  out  all  progressive  thought.  Its  theory  was  that 
there  is  enough  in  theology  on  which  there  is  agreement  to 
make  it  wise  to  teach  only  the  subjects  on  which  there  is 
slight  possibility  of  debate.  That  school  was  marvelously 
successful  in  producing  radicals,  but  they  were  of  the  ill- 
informed,  all-or-nothing  type.  Other  schools,  which  with 
open  eyes  faced  the  facts,  sent  students  forth  in  the  better 
sense  conservative — that  is  to  say,  anxious  to  conserve  the 
truth  wherever  found. 


Training  for  Character 

But  one  word  more  about  any  educational  system  that 
aspires  to  be  called  Christian :  Character  cannot  be  left  out. 
We  cannot  afford  to  have  a  group  of  trained  thinkers 
turned  loose  on  us  if  they  have  not  force  of  moral  nature 
enough  to  use  their  learning  and  skill  for  an  unselfish  pur- 
pose. We  are  hearing  to-day  of  the  discovery  of  destructive 
forces  to  be  used  in  war — deadly  gases  that  can  wipe  out 

38 


AN  EDUCATED  CITIZENEY 

a  regiment  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye,  poisons  that  can  in 
an  hour  annihilate  a  city.  If  these  get  into  hands  of  na- 
tional leaders  who  cannot  use  them  aright,  civilization  is 
doomed,  and  it  ought  to  be.  Any  civilization  that  unlocks 
forces  like  these  with  a  purpose  to  conquer  in  war  deserves 
to  be  caught  and  choked  out  in  its  own  gases. 

Schools  of  social  living. — There  is  no  reason  for  despair, 
however.  Wise  educators  to-day  are  trying  to  make  schools 
into  ideal  social  communities — common  schools,  high 
schools,  colleges,  and  universities,  all  striving  to  embody 
in  actual  living  together  these  principles  which  should 
govern  social  contact.  There  is  hope  here.  Let  schools  be 
spheres  of  laboratory  practice  in  fine  social  living.  The 
greatest  schools  have  always  aimed  to  be  such,  though  the 
ideals  have  not  always  been  of  the  wisest.  So  far  as  pos- 
sible let  schools  be  units  in  training  for  living  together, 
with  loyalty,  of  course,  to  truth  as  the  basic  virtue.  And  to 
that  add  mutual  respect  founded  on  regard  for  human 
worth,  and  to  that  sympathy,  and  to  all  regard  for  the 
common  good.  In  such  atmosphere  the  handling  of  knowl- 
edge would  be  socially  safe,  and  the  power  of  thought 
would  not  work  toward  tearing  down  but  toward  building 
up.  If  aristocracy  in  England  could  fashion  a  university 
whose  atmosphere  for  centuries  tended  to  conserve  the  best 
in  aristocracy,  there  is  no  reason  why  democracies  every- 
where should  not  fashion  schools  to  conserve  and  expand 
the  best  in  democracy. 

Questions  foe  Thought  and  Discussion 

1.  What  is  the  difference  between  instruction  and  educa- 
tion? 

2.  Why  does  democracy  insist  upon  compulsory  and  uni- 
versal education? 

3.  Name  some  of  the  responsibilities  that  come  with 
knowledge. 

4.  Is  it  socially  safe  for  society  to  train  intellect  alone 
without  training  moral  character  ? 

5.  Who  is  more  dangerous  to  a  community — an  ignorant 
good  man  or  an  educated  bad  man  ? 

6.  Is  the  church  an  educational  institution  ?    If  so,  what 

39 


CHEISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

is  the  difference  between  her  task  and  that  of  the  public 
school  ? 

7.  Does  thonghtfnlness  always  tend  to  deliberateness  of 
action  ? 

8.  Do  you  think  that  education  should  be  chiefly  voca- 
tional ? 


4d 


CHAPTER  VI 

PHYSICAL  FITNESS  AND  THE  PUBLIC  HEALTH 

John  9;  1  Cor.  6.  19,20 

Bible  Teachings  About  Health 

Jesus  healing. — In  nothing  is  the  advance  of  social  sen- 
timent more  definitely  revealed  to-day  than  in  the  emphasis 
on  the  public  duty  of  private  health.  It  would  be  folly  to 
say  that  no  one  has  a  right  to  be  sick,  but  it  is  not  folly 
to  say  that  we  are  all  under  obligations  to  keep  ourselves 
as  well  as  possible  for  the  sake  of  the  public  good  as  truly 
as  for  our  own  sake.  Religious  agencies  are  reenforcing 
the  social  demand  for  widespread  good  health.  In  this 
emphasis  such  agencies  are  getting  back  to  that  Scriptural 
atmosphere  out  of  which  Christianity  came.  Jesus  did  not 
indeed  make  the  healing  of  the  sick  his  main  work,  but  he 
did  heal  the  sick  and  thereby  he  gave  his  sanction  to  works 
of  healing.  It  is,  we  all  know,  true  that  some  of  the  most 
notable  victories  of  Christian  faith  have  been  won  in  the 
chambers  of  pain,  but  the  practice  of  Jesus  seems  to  have 
been  to  get  men  into  bodily  wholeness  before  making  at- 
tempt to  give  them  the  largest  spiritual  truth.  That  won- 
derful passage  in  John  about  the  healing  of  the  man  born 
blind  is  the  story  of  the  way  Jesus  opened  not  only  the 
physical  eyes  but  the  spiritual  sight  as  well.  The  account 
begins  with  the  command  to  go  and  wash  in  the  pool  of 
Siloam, — and  the  blind  man  must  have  had  considerable 
initial  faith  to  obey — ^but  the  final  stage  in  the  miracle  is 
the  winning  of  the  restored  man's  confession  that  Jesus  is 
the  Son  of  God. 

A  revelation  to  the  healthy. — Accounts  of  healing  apart, 
the  more  central  truth  is  that  the  spiritual  revelation  was 
a  revelation  made  to  a  healthy  people  living  a  vigorous 
and  energetic  life.  The  Bible  is  an  out-of-doors  book.  The 
revelation  came  to  a  vitally  aggressive  people  toughened 

41 


CHEISTIAN"  CITIZENSHIP 

by  years  of  outdoor  toil  and  by  nomad  hardship  in  a  wilder- 
ness. There  are  not  many  Old  Testament  heroes  who  are 
sickly.  It  is  true  that  in  the  book  of  Job  the  problem  of 
physical  pain  is  heroically  faced,  and  the  attitude  of  trust 
indicated  for  all  time;  but  the  mention  of  Moses  and 
Samuel  and  David  and  Amos  and  Isaiah  does  not  suggest 
anything  spiritually  or  physically  puny.  Jesus  does  not 
seem  ever  to  have  been  sick,  nor  were  the  disciples  often 
confined  to  their  beds.  Paul,  indeed,  had  a  thorn  in  the 
flesh,  but  it  did  not  prevent  his  being  one  of  the  most  over- 
whelmingly active  lives  known  in  history. 

The  religion  of  a  sound  mind  and  body.— There  is  a 
reason  underlying  all  this.  If  popular  self-government  is 
to  survive,  it  must  stick  close  to  reality.  Other  things 
being  equal,  the  physically  sound  man  is  better  adjusted  to 
the  world  in  which  we  live  than  is  the  sick  man.  If  there 
is  a  wrong  physical  adjustment  to  the  world,  there  is 
sure  to  be,  sooner  or  later,  a  wrong  spiritual  adjustment. 
I  once  knew  a  church  in  an  extreme  altitude  among  moun- 
tains which  was  always  hindered  in  its  work  by  the  per- 
formances of  cranks  and  fanatics.  I  was  long  puzzled  to 
know  why  the  church  was  thus  so  afflicted  until  a  shrewd 
scientific  friend  called  my  attention  to  the  fact  that  more 
people  were  there  lying  awake  at  night,  unable  to  sleep  be- 
cause of  the  altitude,  than  in  any  other  city  of  the  size  in 
the  country.  The  physical  environment  did  not  make  for 
soundness.  To  refer  to  the  Scriptures  again  it  is  interest- 
ing to  note  that  the  old  Mosaic  regulations  were  intended 
to  make  a  whole  people  clean.  Is  it  fanciful  to  suggest 
that  the  work  of  Moses  in  striving  after  physical  soundness 
for  his  followers  and  in  protesting  perpetually  against  the 
licentiousness  of  the  nations  round  about  is,  in  part,  re- 
sponsible for  the  thoroughness  with  which  the  Jewish 
people  became  a  channel  for  the  revelation  of  the  divine 
will  ?  This  is  not  to  reduce  the  religious  life  to  the  out- 
come of  physical  antecedents.  We  shall  say  later  that  a 
wholesome  religious  ideal  makes  for  physical  health,  but 
the  return  of  spiritual  soundness  from  the  Jewish  search 
for  physical  soundness  was  amazing.  Consider  the  free- 
dom of  Israel  from  reliance  on  the  unhealthy  occult — 
sorcery  and  witchcraft.     Consider  the  difference  between 

42 


PHYSICAL  FITNESS 

the  visions  of  the  prophets  and  the  trances  of  the  heathen 
priests,  and  we  discern  one  difference  between  the  religion 
of  the  sound  mind  and  that  of  the  half-sickened  mind. 
Professor  C.  F.  Kent  has  laid  us  aU  under  lasting  debt  by 
calling  attention  to  the  far  strides  the  old  Israelitish  reli- 
gion made  toward  democracy.  Democracy  cannot*  well 
thrive  without  revelations  that  come  in  the  broad  sunlight 
rather  than  in  the  dark. 

The  Chuech  and  Health 

The  church,  to  be  Christian,  must  lend  the  support  of  its 
inspiration  to  anything  that  helps  on  widespread  health. 
It  must  aid  especially  in  attacking  plagues  that  now  and 
again  decimate  the  populations  of  whole  nations.  If  Christ 
were  to  come  to  earth  again  he  probably  would  soon  find 
his  way  to  the  laboratories  where  heroic  and  unselfish  scien- 
tists are  hunting  for  ways  to  kill  the  germs  that  make  for 
typhoid  and  tuberculosis  and  bubonic  plague  and  yellow 
fever.  The  searchers  for  these  germs  are  working  for 
Christ  and  the  people  whether  they  know  it  themselves  or 
not.  And  Christ  would  also  soon  find  his  way  to  the  offices 
of  those  striving  to  give  men  better  houses,  more  fresh  air, 
more  healthful  shop  and  factory  ventilation. 

Getting  at  the  roots. — After  all,  Christianity  is  radical 
in  the  sense  of  getting  down  to  the  roots  of  things.  Jesus 
discussed  in  a  parable  two  types  of  radicalism — that  of  the 
ax  and  that  of  the  spade.  There  is  in  the  teaching  of  Jesus 
a  place  for  the  radicalism  of  the  ax,  but  only  after  the 
radicalism  of  the  spade,  which  would  loosen  the  earth 
around  the  roots,  has  been  tried.  As  Christians  we  must 
listen  to  those  rather  fierce  prophets  who  tell  us  that  the 
poor  health  of  masses  of  people  comes  out  of  the  industrial 
system  in  which  we  live.  But  before  borrowing  the  ax  of 
such  prophets  let  us  see  if  a  Christian  public  sentiment 
cannot  do  a  little  spading  around  the  roots  of  the  institu- 
tions. 

Wages  and  health. — We  agree  that  there  can  be  no  high 
social  life  without  fair  health  on  the  part  of  the  mass  of 
persons  in  the  society.  Let  us  insist,  then,  that  industry 
shall  more  and  more  make  place  for  a  living  wage,  not  a 
mere  existence  or  subsistence  wage.    If  we  are  to  get  down 

43 


CHEISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

to  the  taproot  of  widespread  weakness  we  find  it  to  be 
due  to  the  fact  that  food  is  insufiicient,  clothing  not  quite 
warm  enough,  houses  not  fully  heated,  surplus  money  not 
sufficient  to  warrant  calling  the  physician  for  those  "colds'' 
out.  of  which  serious  illness  comes.  So  we  often  have 
among  laborers  in  all  industries  and  in  all  walks  of  life  that 
^^under  par"  condition  which  means  a  citizenry  not  likely 
to  be  aroused  to  great  national  issues.  Those  scientists 
probably  overstate  the  case  who  say  that  the  downfall  of 
Kome  was  caused  by  malaria  of  a  virulent  type;  but  one 
thing  is  sure:  even  if  the  malaria  was  not  of  a  virulent 
type,  if  it  was  just  enough  to  give  the  mass  of  Eomans  a 
dragged-down,  washed-out  feeling,  they  would  not  long 
care  whether  Eome  fell  or  not. 

Hours  and  health. — Or  take  the  effect  of  fatigue  from 
too  long  a  working  day.  Who  can  labor  twelve  hours  a 
day  for  six  days  a  week  and  be  interested  in  anything  ex- 
cept just  to  get  to  bed  after  the  day?  We  must  not  be 
misled  by  the  examples  of  those  who  have  risen  to  eminence 
through  such  hours  of  work.  Ordinarily  such  persons 
are  dowered  with  exceptional  survival  powers,  and  tiiey  are 
not  always  especially  attractive  characters  after  they  have 
survived.  They  carry  too  many  marks  of  the  struggle 
through  which  they  have  passed.  Should  we  be  deceived 
even  by  the  preacher  who  tells  us  that  he  works  sixteen 
hours  a  day  ?  There  is  no  work  on  earth  more  interesting 
than  that  of  the  preacher.  A  manufacturing  magnate  once 
replied  to  a  friend  of  mine  who  was  urging  an  eight-hour 
day  for  heavy  monotonous  labor  that  he  himself,  the  mag- 
nate, worked  sixteen  hours  a  day — sixteen  hours  a  day  in 
a  comfortable  office,  with  new  and  fascinating  questions  up 
for  solution,  with  the  excitement  of  the  stupendous  game 
as  a  stimulus,  with  trips  all  over  the  world  as  part  of  the 
work! 

leisure  and  health. — If  the  commonwealth  on  earth  is 
to  be  at  all  a  preparation  for  the  commonwealth  in  the 
heavens,  there  must  be  chance  for  leisure  from  heavy,  ex- 
hausting toil,  and  leisure  not  for  the  rest  of  dead  slumber 
but  for  the  rest  of  changed  activity,  for  recreation  that 
gives  the  unused  faculties  a  chance,  for  brooding  that  lets 
the  worker  get  hold  of  ideas  that  put  meaning  into  his  toil. 

44 


PHYSICAL  FITNESS 

In  aU  this,  however,  we  must  be  careful  to  keep  the  bal- 
ance. The  Christian  doctrine  of  good  health  is  indeed 
obedience  to  God's  physical  laws,  out  of  which  good  health 
comes,  and  reliance  upon  healthy  bodily  processes  to  bring 
healthy  mental  and  spiritual  processes ;  but  the  other  side 
must  never  be  forgotten — the  effect  of  the  spiritual  state 
on  the  physical  state.  Current  mental  healing  is  too  often 
an  exaggeration  to  aberration  of  a  principle  familiar 
enough  since  the  days  of  the  Old  Testament  shrewd  ob- 
server who  said  that  a  cheerful  heart  is  a  good  medicine; 
and,  apart  from  the  cheerful  heart,  the  mental  healer  is 
right  in  insisting  that  we  can  get  rid  of  some  ailments  by 
ignoring  them — at  least  better  than  by  bemoaning  a  lot  of 
trifling  inconveniences.  But  beyond  all  this  the  physically 
strengthening  power  of  a  noble  ideal  is  part  of  gospel 
truth.  The  old  explorers  used  to  say  that  if  a  traveler 
through  the  woods,  bent  on  a  momentous  errand  for  his 
country  or  his  king,  would  take  with  him  as  companions 
a  dog  and  an  Indian,  the  dog  would  weaken  first,  the  sav- 
age next,  and  the  mess&nger  of  the  king  last,  assuming 
all  in  fairly  good  condition  at  the  start.  The  inner  forces 
of  the  higher  type  of  intelligence  would  give  the  king's 
messenger  the  advantage  in  the  physical  race. 

Health  fob  the  World 

This  problem  of  public  health  grows  more  and  more 
acute  with  the  passing  of  the  years.  The  world  is  rapidly 
becoming  a  vast  community,  and  bad  physical  conditions 
in  one  nation  soon  affect  aU  nations.  Even  if  there  were 
no  problem  of  eternal  destiny  involved,  the  nations  of  the 
world  would  sooner  or  later  be  forced  to  adopt  some  points 
of  view  essentially  Christian  just  for  the  sake  of  the 
conquest  of  an  evil  physical  situation.  Close  observers 
tell  us  that  the  physical  disorders  of  the  mass  of  the  people 
in  India  have  both  physical  and  mental  roots.  There  are 
the  terrific  pressure  of  the  population  on  the  land  and  the 
resulting  handicap  in  getting  a  livelihood,  all  issuing,  finally, 
in  deadly  fatalism.  The  problem  must  be  attacked  on  all 
sides,  by  no  means  overlooking  the  necessity  of  spiritual  at- 
tack on  the  fatalism.  The  religions  of  India,  so  far  as  an 
outsider  can  judge,  are  narcotic,  hypnotic,  soporific.    The 

45 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

theology  is  of  value  chiefly  as  an  anaesthetic,  and  no  won- 
der when  the  circumstances  of  actual  Indian  existence 
come  to  view.  If  a  Christian  outlook  upon  life  could 
thoroughly  be  introduced,  the  new  dignity  of  the  human 
being  would  lead  to  new  thought  of  family  and  child  life, 
to  a  reduction  of  the  pressure  of  population  and  to  sounder 
physical  existence.  Of  China  also  it  is  said  that  five  gen- 
erations are  brought  forth  upon  a  land  that  should  be  ex- 
pected to  sustain  only  four  during  that  period.  The  Chris- 
tian viewpoint  would  give  China  better  medicine,  better 
living  conditions,  and  a  better  thought  of  the  meaning  of 
a  human  life.  The  Christian  doctrine  would  make  against 
ancestor  worship  and  the  overdemand  for  sons,  against  too 
early  marriage,  against  concubinage,  against  sexual  pro- 
miscuity. The  birth  rate  would  fall,  but  the  worth  of  those 
born  would  rise.  And  the  physical  conditions  would  make 
not  so  much  for  sheer  endurance  as  for  positive  achieve- 
ment in  high  living. 

Questions  for  Thought  and  Discussion 

1.  In  what  sense  is  it  a  Christian  duty  to  be  physically 
well? 

2.  Why  do  we  advise  men  to  call  in  a  doctor  for  a  "cold'' 
while  we  tell  them  to  forget  their  minor  ailments  ? 

3.  Name  some  dangers  that  arise  from  preaching  that 
sound  religious  views  always  come  from  sound  bodily  states. 

4.  In  what  sense  is  good  health  contagious  ? 

6.  Name  some  instances  of  the  power  of  mind  over  the 
health  of  the  body. 

6.  Now  that  we  have  won  the  battle  over  alcohol,  are 
there  still  other  forms  of  intemperance  against  which  we 
should  fight? 

7.  Have  you  ever  known  religious  doubt  to  come  from 
preventable  melancholy  ? 

8.  Can  a  church  rightfully  neglect  health  conditions 
among  its  people  ? 


46 


CHAPTEE  VII 

PEODUCTIVE  LABOK 

Neh.  4.  15-23;  Matt.  20.  1-16 

If  we  are  to  consider  adequately  the  problems  of  a  Chris- 
tian commonwealth  we  must  ask  as  to  the  self-preservation 
of  that  commonwealth.  We  are  not  thinking  of  an  army 
or  a  navy  but  of  the  ability  of  the  nation  to  use  its  labor 
power  productively.  For  an  individual  person  to  consider 
how  to  get  the  most  return  of  wealth  for  his  own  selfish  use 
is  indeed  to  be  condemned,  but  there  is  nothing  wrong  in 
one's  asking  how  a  nation  can  so  work  as  to  get  the  best 
harvest  from  the  utilities  at  its  disposal.  One  test  of  the 
success  of  our  social  systems  is  the  amount  of  goods  pro- 
duced by  them — that  is,  if  the  chief  purpose  of  production 
is  the  welfare  of  men.  Other  things  being  equal,  the  Chris- 
tian democracy  that  does  not  bring  as  much  material 
wealth  into  use  as  other  nations  stands  condemned  beside 
those  systems.  Anything  that  puts  better  tools  into  man's 
hands,  that  makes  two  blades  of  grass  grow  where  one  grew 
before,  that  makes  the  struggle  for  bread  easier,  marches  in 
line  with  the  purposes  of  Christ.  The  inventor,  the  scien- 
tist, the  industrial  organizer,  all  can  help  on  the  coming  of 
the  kingdom  of  God. 

Making  Laboe  Moee  Peoductivb 

The  problem  of  unemployment. — ^We  are  not  now  con- 
cerned as  much,  however,  with  the  part  to  be  played  by 
individual  specialists  as  with  that  to  be  played  by  a  correct 
public  attitude  toward  broad  social  questions  in  making 
labor  more  productive.  To  begin  with,  think  of  the  im- 
portance of  curing  the  evil  of  unemployment,  which  is  such 
a  terror  in  the  mind  of  the  working  man  to-day.  What  a 
tragedy  that  men  anxious  and  willing  to  work,  men  able  to 
work  effectively,  should  stand  in  the  market  place  all  the 

47 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

day  without  being  hired !  The  responsibility  here  is  social : 
It  is  not  just  a  case  of  a  free-for-all  race — every  man  for 
himself  and  the  devil  take  the  hindmost.  The  social  harm 
that  will  result  if  large  numbers  of  men  work  with  the 
devil  of  unemployment  always  at  their  heels  will  be  in- 
calculable. The  one  boon  that  the  laborer  to-day  seems 
always  to  desire  above  others  is  security  of  employment. 
It  is  the  duty  of  society  to  insist  upon  the  solution  of  this 
problem,  hard  as  it  no  doubt  is.  We  are  not  now  bothering 
ourselves  about  the  lazy  or  incompetent  but  about  the 
eager  and  competent.  If  a  seasonal  trade  like  that  of  the 
garment  workers  can  spread  its  work  out  through  the 
major  part  of  a  year  instead  of  congesting  itself  into  a  few 
feverish  months,  perhaps  other  extensive  trades  can  do  the 
same  if  public  opinion  says  so.  If,  because  of  world-wide 
fluctuations,  there  is  now  and  again  a  halt  in  all  trades, 
there  is  nothing  unreasonable  in  the  demand  that  at  such 
periods  the  public  itself  employ  at  least  some  of  the  men 
in  useful  public  works.  If  this  is  not  possible,  there  is 
nothing  alarmingly  destructive  in  the  idea  of  unemploy- 
ment insurance.  Whatever  the  plan,  there  is  nothing  un- 
christian in  the  attempt  to  make  others  besides  the  work- 
ingman  share  the  heaviest  burdens  of  unemployment.  The 
parable  of  Jesus  about  the  men  hired  at  the  eleventh  hour 
is  suggestive.  It  is,  we  know,  not  possible  to  make  the 
teachings  of  Jesus  a  literal  guide  in  intricate  modern  in- 
dustrialism, and  this  particular  parable  raises  a  good  many 
puzzles;  but  Jesus  certainly  teaches  that  there  is  nothing 
inherently  unjust  in  paying  laborers  for  the  time  they  have 
not  worked  if  they  have  been  willing  to  be  hired.  Before 
anyone  gets  scared  at  this  let  him  reflect  that  payment  dur- 
ing an  unemplojrment  period  is  conmaon  enough  in  some 
forms  of  activity  to-day.  The  work  of  salaried  men,  espe- 
cially in  the  higher  positions,  is  not  often  evenly  spread 
out  through  the  year,  though  the  pay  is.  Lawyers  accept 
retaining  fees,  holding  themselves  in  readiness  for  services 
that  may  never  be  called  for.  Very  frequently  the  man 
who  pronounces  crazy  a  plan  to  carry  laborers  without  pay 
through  a  season  of  unemployment  raises  a  frightful  outcry 
if  interest  on  his  loaned  money  ceases.  He  wants  his 
money  to  get  its  hire  whether  it  renders  service  or  not. 

48 


PEODUCTIVE  LABOE 

This  entire  problem  is  one  for  the  earnest  consideration  of 
a  Christian  commonwealth  anxious  to  make  all  labor  as 
productive  as  possible. 

The  problem  of  drudgery  and  monotony. — A  second  con- 
sideration that  a  Christian  nation  will  keep  before  itself  in 
its  struggle  for  increased  control  over  the  forces  of  nature 
will  be  that  not  only  of  keeping  men  employed  all  of  their 
time  but  of  employing  more  of  the  personality  of  the  in- 
dividual laborers.  That  is  to  say,  there  should  be  public 
sentiment  against  so  using  laborers  as  to  degrade  them  into 
mere  cogs  in  a  machine.  When  some  tell  us  that  laborers 
prefer  work  that  does  not  require  more  than  the  utilization 
of  a  few  movements  of  the  body,  which  can  become  almost 
automatic,  they  tell  us  that  men  prefer  the  monotonous  to 
the  interesting.  This  can  only  be  true  with  rather  sub- 
normal men  or  with  those  whose  hours  are  short  or  whose 
life  outside  the  shop  is  varied  and  attractive.  Science  has 
for  the  most  part  devised  means,  in  Western  lands  at  least, 
for  lifting  the  burdens  off  the  backs  of  men  and  loading 
them  upon  steel  muscles.  Almost  as  important  are  the  in- 
ventions that  turn  over  to  machinery  the  processes  that 
have  become  monotonous.  When  a  process  reaches  a  place 
where  a  man's  muscles  can  perform  it  while  the  man's  mind 
may  be  far  afield,  it  is  time  to  allot  the  task  to  the  machine 
altogether.  Some  industrial  leaders,  in  dealing  with 
monotonous  processes  that  cannot  yet  be  taken  over  by  ma- 
chinery, arrange  to  shift  the  men  who  do  such  work  from 
one  kind  of  job  to  another,  so  that  there  may  be  some 
change  even  in  monotony.  They  do  this  for  the  sake  of  the 
morale  of  the  shop.  The  morale  of  an  entire  industry  is 
likewise  a  proper  object  of  concern,  not  for  employers  alone 
but  for  the  entire  public. 

The  Oeganization  of  Wage  Eabnees 

It  is  not  our  purpose  to  take  up  one  after  another  de- 
tailed projects  of  reform  in  the  labor  world;  we  deal  with 
a  few  questions  that  the  citizen  has  every  now  and  then  to 
face  in  his  thought  of  wise  public  policy.  The  query  as  to 
the  spirit  abroad  among  the  so-called  laboring  class  is 
to-day  one  of  the  foremost  in  the  attention  of  all  public- 

49 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

spirited  men.  Suppose  we  glance  at  the  debated  theme 
as  to  the  wisdom  of  organized  efforts  among  wage  earners — 
collective  bargaining,  shop  control,  etc.  Now,  be  it  said 
at  the  outset  that  there  is  no  need  of  our  talking  about 
the  possibility  in  America  at  least,  of  wage  earners'  taking 
over  the  industries  of  the  country  by  revolution  and  run- 
ning them.  An  industry  is  run  not  merely  by  wage  earners 
but  by  skilled  engineers  and  of  captains  capable  of  organiz- 
ing and  by  far-seeing  leaders  who  think  and  plan  in  terms 
of  years.  When  aU  the  workers,  from  the  wage  earners  to 
company  president,  link  together  to  run  an  industry,  it  can 
be  run.  About  the  only  form  the  question  would  then  take 
would  be  as  to  whether  they  were  going  to  run  it  for  them- 
selves or  for  the  common  good.  The  talk  of  wage  earners' 
control  in  this  country  is  either  a  dream  or  a  bogy. 

The  recognition  of  organized  labor. — But  that  does  not 
mean  that  the  wage  earners  should  not  be  heeded  when  they 
ask  for  the  privileges  of  organization  and  of  representation 
through  agents  of  their  own  choosing.  This  may  make 
trouble  for  a  time,  but  the  forces  of  democracy  and  of 
Christian  self-realization  are  on  the  side  of  such  recog- 
nition of  organized  labor.  This  is  not  to  be  taken  neces- 
sarily as  wholesale  indorsement  of  contemporaneous  union- 
ism, but  as  a  statement  of  Christian  principle.  There  are 
some  things  that  men  can  best  do  for  themselves;  and  if 
they  do  these  things  best  for  themselves,  in  the  long  run 
the  social  outcome  will  be  best,  stated  even  in  terms  of 
material  productivity. 

The  right  of  a  group  to  speak  through  a  spokesman  of  its 
own  choosing  ought  to  be  regarded  as  axiomatic  in  a 
democracy.  And,  of  course,  the  employer  exercises  such 
a  right.  He  speaks  ordinarily  through  a  paid  attorney.  It 
is,  in  the  main,  well  for  employers  that  they  do  so.  Some 
of  the  completest  exhibitions  of  sheer  puzzleheadedness 
have  come  as  employers  have  tried  to  state  their  own  case 
in  a  labor  controversy. 

The  fundamental  right,  though,  is  the  right  of  laborers 
to  join  together  in  group  procedure  for  the  sake  of  making 
the  most  of  themselves.  It  wiU  make  trouble  in  the  short 
run  but  it  will  be  fine  in  the  long  run.  When  the  Great  War 
broke  out,  the  allied  nations  saw  that  they  could  not 

50 


PEODUCTIVE  LABOR 

hope  to  win  without  the  purposeful  cooperation  of  laborers 
acting  collectively.  One  day  it  will  become  equally  clear 
that  the  noble  victories  in  the  conquest  of  physical  nature 
in  peacetime  will  have  to  be  won  in  the  same  way. 

Group  consciousness. — But  does  not  this  encourage 
stratification  in  American  society  ?  It  might  if  we  intro- 
duced the  notion  of  higher  and  lower ;  but  suppose  we  stick 
to  the  idea  of  group  consciousness.  Are  organizations  of 
professional  men  undesirable?  Shall  we  rail  against  our 
legal  and  medical  associations?  Are  Methodist  confer- 
ences antisocial?  The  fact  is  that  the  group  activities — 
that  is  to  say,  the  activities  of  the  minor  groups  in  a  state 
— may  be  part  of  the  glory  of  the  state.  Wage  earners  have 
a  right  to  like  associations.  And  if  they  use  their  asso- 
ciations to  discuss  the  foundations  of  society  and  if  they 
aid  in  the  establishment  of  workers^  schools  to  educate 
laborers  to  a  keener  appreciation  of  the  laborer's  place  in 
society,  what  harm  is  done  if  it  all  goes  on  in  the  open? 
Understand  now,  our  sole  intention  is  for  the  better  con- 
quest of  the  earth  for  the  better  life  of  man  and  for  the 
enlargement  of  the  lives  of  those  who  serve  society  by 
feeding  and  clothing  and  housing  society. 

Rent^  Interest^  and  Pkofits 

It  remains  to  say  a  word  about  the  place  in  the  common- 
wealth of  those  who  do  not  directly  earn  their  living — 
those  who  receive  rent,  interest,  and  profits.  This  field 
has  not  yet  been  accurately  enough  surveyed  to  make  pos- 
sible a  final  moral  judgment.  A  few  suggestions,  however, 
from  the  point  of  view  of  the  public  welfare  may  be  in 
order. 

How  acquired? — The  socialists  will  have  it  that  in  the 
socialistic  realm  rent,  interest,  and  profits  will  go  by  the 
board.  But  socialism  has  not  yet  arrived.  Meantime  we 
must  make  shift  to  do  the  best  we  can  for  all  concerned 
under  the  present  system.  If  rent,  interest,  or  profit  is 
dishonestly  acquired  it  belongs  to  him  from  whom  it  was 
taken.  If  it  represents  service  on  the  part  of  the  man  who 
receives  it,  it  belongs  to  that  man.  If  it,  in  any  part,  is  a 
social  creation,  it  morally  belongs  to  society. 

51 


CHEISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

legitimate  reward. — There  can  be  no  doubt  that  many 
holders  of  income  from  these  sources  earn  what  accrues  to 
them.  If  the  rent  comes  from  farms,  they  take  personal 
interest  in  the  farm  and  its  cultivation.  They  furnish 
part  capital,  such  as  seeds  and  fences  and  barns.  They  are 
entitled  to  reward  for  such  service.  The  receivers  of  inter- 
est may  have  saved  their  money  by  self-sacrifice  and  thrift. 
Capital  means  tools.  They  have  made  possible  the  tools. 
They  are  entitled  to  reward  when  someone  borrows  the 
tools.  But — there  is  much  costless  saving  in  the  business 
world — credit  extended  which  represents  no  actual  money 
saved.  Is  it  right  that  this  should  be  so  heavy  a  burden 
upon  industry  ?  As  to  profits  we  must  recognize  under  the 
present  system  legitimate  taking  of  risk  for  the  sake  of 
industrial  expansion.  The  man  who  takes  the  risk  is  en- 
titled to  reward.  But  there  is  too  much  profit  that  repre- 
sents no  service  whatever. 

A  social  product. — In  the  last  analysis  much  of  the  return 
we  know  as  rent,  interest,  and  profit  is  a  strictly  social 
product.  The  pressure  of  population,  for  example,  makes 
economic  rent  possible.  The  rent  belongs  to  society.  But 
society  does  not  choose  to  take  it.  It  rather  guards  the 
right  of  the  private  owner  to  keep  the  rent.  What,  now, 
shall  the  public-spirited  Christian  citizen  do  with  such 
income  ?  There  is  no  reason  why  he  should  pay  it  out  in 
increase  of  wages  if  the  wages  have  already  been  just.  The 
wage  earner  did  not  earn  that  rent.  There  is  only  one 
answer:  A  citizen  anxious  to  serve  as  a  Christian  must 
use  such  income  under  a  heavy  sense  of  social  responsi- 
bility. He  can  use  it  to  make  himself  as  socially  worth 
while  as  possible,  but  he  cannot  spend  such  money  ethically 
and  spend  it  with  the  thought  of  self  uppermost.  Probably 
he  can  to-day  do  more  good  for  society  with  the  money 
than  if  he  gave  it  into  some  public  treasury.  How  he 
should  serve  is  left  to  himself.  But  the  obligation  to 
serve  is  upon  him  in  a  weightier  sense  than  on  him  who 
receives  wages  or  salary  or  fees  in  direct  return  for  services 
specifically  rendered.  The  best  practical  solution  is  to  do 
with  such  money  all  the  social  good  one  can  during  life 
and  at  the  end  leave  the  principal  to  some  institution  work- 
ing directly  with  an  aim  at  social  betterment. 

52 


PRODUCTIVE  LABOR 

Questions  for  Thought  and  Discussion 

1.  How  can  a  man  earn  money  that  is  given  to  him  ? 

2.  Can  we  always  estima,te  what  a  man  is  worth  to  so- 
ciety in  money  terms  ? 

3.  Can  a  man  be  a  producer  who  does  not  produce  mate- 
rial goods? 

4.  Are  ideals  for  which  a  man  stands  among  the  more  or 
less  useful  products? 

5.  How  can  the  church  help  overcome  the  monotony  of 
men's  daily  work? 

6.  Is  labor  inherently  an  evil? 

7.  If  we  allow  capitalists  to  organize  should  we  forbid 
laborers  to  do  so? 

8.  Do  you  think  the  problem  of  unemployment  is  in- 
soluble ? 


53 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE  PATRIOTIC  HOME 

Deut.  6.  4-9;  Luke  18.  15-17;  Col.  3.  18-21 

The  Place  op  the  Family  in  a  Democbacy 

The  family  as  a  minor  group. — The  family  is  to-day 
being  attacked  by  two  classes  of  agitators  in  the  name  of 
democracy.  The  first  type  insists  that  democracy  means 
that  there  is  to  be  only  one  all-inclusive  group — the  mass 
of  the  people  themselves — and  that  no  smaller  groups  are 
to  be  given  sacredness  as  over  against  that  supreme  group. 
Such  agitators  claim  that  the  family  becomes  a  center  of 
privilege  against  the  welfare  of  the  whole.  In  so  far  as  the 
objection  is  against  the  existence  of  minor  groups  in  a 
national  group  it  is  fast  disappearing  into  the  limbo  of 
wornout  arguments.  A  nation  is  not  to  be  a  huge,  amor- 
phous heap  but  an  organism  of  finer  and  finer  adjustments 
among  minor  groups.  And  the  place  of  the  family  group 
in  a  democratic  nation  will  appear  as  we  proceed. 

The  family  as  a  life-giver. — The  second  type  of  agitator 
is  that  of  the  protestant  against  any  infringement  of 
liberty.  To  such  a  man  marriage  seems  like  bondage,  and 
nations  exist  to  give  their  citizens  liberty.  When  this  ar- 
gument is  sincerely  brought  forward  it  means  that  the  ob- 
jector has  not  taken  account  of  the  fact  that  what  may 
seem  like  the  formal  assumption  of  a  bmid  may  be  an 
approach  toward  larger  liberty.  No  douhl  many  detailed 
changes  in  particular  marriage  laws  can  b^  made  to  advan- 
tage, but  our  discussion  now  concerns  the  institution  in  its 
largest,  most  distinctive  features.  We  have  said  that  the 
goal  of  all  social  organization  should  be  the  enlargement 
and  enrichment  of  the  life  of  the  persons  composing  the 
organization.  The  state  should  encourage  all  such  life- 
bringing  groups,  especially  when  out  of  the  smaller  groups 
stream  those  influences  which  make  for  the  more  abundant 
effectiveness  of  the  larger  group  as  a  life-giver, 

54 


THE  PATRIOTIC  HOME 

Two  achievements  of  the  family. — Despite  all  objections 
to  the  institution  of  the  family  it  is  quite  within  reason  to 
say  that  it  is,  on  the  whole,  the  noblest  social  success  of  the 
human  race.  Take  just  two  of  its  achievements.  It  has 
been  the  most  effective  means  for  controlling  and  idealiz- 
ing the  physical  relations  between  the  sexes.  This  has 
been  an  incalculably  stupendous  achievement.  Granted 
that  the  amount  of  immorality  to-day  even  in  so-called 
Christian  lands  is  appalling,  we  still  have  to  concede  the 
success  of  the  family  in  controlling  and  moralizing  the 
sexual  nature.  The  second  achievement  is  that  of  conserv- 
ing and  developing  the  other-regarding  feelings.  A 
family  cannot  exist  long  on  the  basis  of  sheer  selfishness. 
A  large  amount  of  personal  selfishness  will  ruin  a  family. 
The  family  stands  for  unselfishness,  at  least  within  the 
family  circle.  John  Fiske  has  insisted  upon  the  morally 
significant  part  played  in  human  progress  by  the  length- 
ening of  the  period  of  infancy,  of  the  dependency  of  young 
on  the  parents,  or,  possibly  in  prehistoric  times,  on  the 
mother.  The  deepest  other-regarding  feeling  was  at  the 
beginning  quite  likely  that  of  the  mother  toward  the  child, 
but  the  father's  feeling  lagged  not  far  behind  after  a  grow- 
ing moral  sense  stirred  the  father  to  awareness  of  his  re- 
sponsibilities toward  his  child  and  the  mother  of  his  child. 
As  soon  as  any  family  organization  arose,  the  other-regard- 
ing feelings  began  to  get  a  chance:  hence  the  Scriptural 
blessing  upon  the  family.  From  long  ages  of  human  ex- 
perience we  can  say  that  the  family  is  the  recreator  and  re- 
in vigorator  of  society  at  the  ranges  of  its  best  life. 

The  Christian  Ideal  of  the  Family 

Equality  in  the  home. — The  Christian  ideal  for  the 
family  as  a  social  force  implies  at  the  start  a  fundamental 
and  complete  equality  between  husband  and  wife — ^the 
equality  of  rational  and  moral  persons.  A  good  deal  of 
dangerous  and  unchristian  nonsense  has  been  uttered  in 
times  past  about  the  man  as  the  head  of  the  house,  woman 
as  bound  to  obey  the  head,  and  so  on  and  on.  The  notion 
even  of  the  dependence  of  the  wife  on  the  husband  is  not 
ideal.    We  should  welcome  that  growing  opportunity  for 

A5 


CHEISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

women  in  fields  outside  the  home  which  makes  it  possible 
for  the  woman  not  to  have  to  consider  the  economic  ques- 
tion in  thinking  about  accepting  an  offer  of  marriage.  The 
best  homes  come  of  unions  that  do  not  have  to  be  based 
on  anything  except  mutual  affection.  With  the  union  once 
established  there  should  be  no  dependence  but  that  of 
mutual  friendship  and  partnership.  The  patriotic  home 
in  a  Christian  democracy  is  one  in  which  the  relation  be- 
tween husband  and  wife  is  democratic.  It  is  possible  for  a 
husband  and  a  wife  to  be  in  love  with  one  another  without 
attaining  the  plane  of  partnership  and  friendship.  Open 
understandings  openly  arrived  at  is  a  good  rule  for  the 
family.  And  the  foe  of  much  friendly  partnership  is  often 
the  desire  of  the  husband  to  make  a  pet  or  favorite  of  his 
wife.  Let  love  go  to  the  extreme  to  show  itself,  but  if  it 
ends  in  vulgar  ostentation  it  spreads  the  seeds  of  social 
destruction.  One  potent  cause  of  revolutions  in  human 
history  has  been  the  gaudy  display  of  women  bedecked  by 
men.  From  the  days  of  Amos,  who  denounced  the  kine 
of  Bashan,  and  of  Isaiah,  who  poured  wrath  upon  the  hair- 
dresser's masterpieces  of  round  tires  like  the  moon,  down 
to  the  days  when  in  many  a  city  the  Easter  parade  rouses 
the  bitter  ire  of  aU  who  detest  the  exaltation  of  the  animal 
above  the  human,  public  decoration  of  women  by  men  has 
been  a  contributing  cause  and  abettor  of  radical  revolution. 
Children  in  the  home. — But  a  democratic  ideal  for  the 
family  breaks  down,  does  it  not,  when  it  comes  to  the  rela- 
tion of  parents  to  children  ?  It  does  if  the  rule  is  that  of 
an  issued  dictatorial  command  on  the  one  hand,  or  in  sheer, 
unrestrained  indulgence  of  children  on  the  other.  But 
there  is  no  reason  why  there  should  not  be  mutual  confi- 
dences between  parents  and  children,  why  the  reasons  for 
commands  should  not  be  given,  why  the  family  should  not 
become  a  partnership  of  all  members.  John  Wesley  used 
to  say  that  the  parent  should  break  the  child's  will  in  order 
to  save  its  soul ;  which  reveals  the  wisdom  of  that  fate  that 
denied  children  to  Wesley.  Why  should  anyone's  will  be 
broken  ?  Wills  should  be  controlled,  but  a  broken  will  is  a 
ruined  will.  The  old,  indeed,  deplore  what  seems  like  utter 
lawlessness  on  the  part  of  the  younger  generations,  but  we 
must  not  forget  that  the  weakening  of  growing  wills  by 

5^ 


THE  PATRIOTIC  HOME 

overexacting  parental  solicitude  or  even  by  too  much  par- 
ental advice  is  also  an  evil. 

Patriotism  in  the  home. — The  attitude  toward  the  state 
especially  will  be  shaped  in  the  home.  The  type  of  national 
ideal  set  before  the  growing  mind  in  the  household  will  be 
influential  in  the  after  days.  We  hear  much  to-day  about 
the  fostering  of  a  spirit  of  patriotism  that  will  do  away 
with  war.  To  attain  effectiveness  that  spirit  will  have  to 
work  vigorously  in  the  home.  The  generation  reared  just 
after  our  Civil  War  was  brought  up  to  see  pictures  of 
generals  on  the  walls  and  in  the  books  on  the  family  table. 
During  the  same  period  the  city  of  Washington  was  so 
crowded  with  equestrian  statues  of  military  heroes  as  to 
look,  in  the  words  of  a  distinguished  critic,  "like  a  cavalry 
charge.'*  And  one  of  the  haraiful  results  of  the  Civil  War 
— a  result  that  does  not  seem  likely  to  follow  from  the 
Great  War — ^was  the  filling  of  the  land  with  colonels  and 
majors  and  captains.  Now,  all  this  has  its  humorous 
aspect,  but  it  is  very  serious  if  it  means  that  the  military 
leader  is  held  before  a  rising  generation  as  an  ideal  of 
surpassing  worth.  The  military  man  is  entitled  to  full 
credit  for  all  services  rendered,  but  his  character  is  not 
sure  to  be  of  the  loftiest,  however  necessary  his  service  may 
have  been.  Moreover,  of  all  the  blind  specialists  on  earth 
the  military  specialists  are  the  blindest  to  all  concerns 
except  those  of  their  particular  art.  War  may  be  neces- 
sary in  self-defense,  but  there  is  no  way  of  idealizing  actual 
war  except  by  lying  about  it. 

The  final  test. — There  is  no  call  for  an  attempt  at  de- 
tailed listing  of  those  patriotic  virtues  which  the  Christian 
home  should  seek  to  inculcate.  In  a  word  it  may  be  said 
that  the  best  way  the  home  can  help  the  state  is  by  making 
the  most  of  the  children  in  the  home.  The  surest  invest- 
ment the  home  can  make  for  the  state  is  in  the  education 
of  the  children.  It  should  be  looked  upon  as  a  duty  both 
to  the  country  and  to  the  kingdom  of  God  for  parents  to 
give  the  children  the  finest  education  they  can  afford  and 
the  children  can  take. 

Children  as  ends  in  themselves. — But  in  this  there  is  a 
danger — the  danger  of  the  state's  looking  upon  children  as 
a  sort  of  investment,  to  repeat  the  word  we  have  ourselves 

57 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

used.  This  is  of  course  barbarous  when  we  think  of  chil- 
dren as  possible  cannon  fodder.  It  is  also  wrong  if  we  get 
to  thinking  of  children  as  instruments.  They  are  persons, 
ends  in  themselves.  Even  in  the  home  their  worth  consists 
in  what  they  are  in  themselves,  and  not  what  they  are  to 
become.  The  doctrine  that  a  child  is  worth  while  on  his 
own  account  is  most  important  for  a  nation.  What  the 
child  is  as  a  child,  what  he  thinks  as  a  child,  what  he 
speaks  as  a  child,  is  inherently  and  intrinsically  of  worth. 
An  apple  orchard  in  blossom  time  has  a  beauty  all  its  own 
apart  from  the  promise  of  harvest.  The  same  considera- 
tion should  apply  to  that  problem  of  dependency  in  the 
state  which  arises  out  of  the  abandonment  of  children  by 
the  death  of  parents  or  by  the  break-up  of  homes  or  by 
desertion  by  parents.  From  one  angle  the  state  does  face 
here  the  problem  of  investment  in  future  citizens ;  but  the 
more  fundamental  question  is  that  of  the  intrinsic  worth 
and  dignity  of  the  child  himself.  The  attack  on  the  prob- 
lem of  child  dependency  should  start  with  the  intention  of 
making  the  most  of  the  person  as  a  distinctive  and  valuable 
end  in  himself.  This  is  indeed  a  counsel  of  perfection,  not 
very  well  met  by  orphan  asylums  and  overstandardized 
schools,  but  worthy  of  practical  consideration  nevertheless. 
Eegard  for  old  age. — An  old  commandment  says  that 
children  are  to  honor  father  and  mother,  that  the  days  of 
the  children  may  be  long  in  the  land.  The  commandment 
is  given  with  a  national  purpose.  One  test  of  democracy 
will  be  its  regard  for  the  old.  The  rush  and  strain  of  an 
industrial  type  of  organization  tends  to  push  the  old  aside 
or  to  make  workers  old  at  an  early  age.  Men  are  not  to  be 
honored  just  because  they  are  old,  but  one  count  against 
the  new  social  organization  is  that  it  thwarts  a  natural  old 
age.  It  is  just  as  wrong  socially  to  sanction  forces  that 
make  for  a  strained  and  unnatural  old  age  as  to  sanction 
those  which  make  for  a  strained  and  stunted  childhood. 
In  the  Christian  family  regard  will  be  shown  to  those 
going  on  into  years,  the  regard  taking  the  form  of  respect 
for  the  aging  life  as  such.  Just  as  it  is  inadequate  to 
think  of  childhood  from  the  point  of  view  of  its  future,  so 
it  is  inadequate  to  think  of  old  age  from  the  point  of  view 
of  its  past.    Old  age  should  be  looked  upon  for  what  it  is  in 

58 


THE  PATRIOTIC  HOME 

itself.  Outside  of  the  care  provided  for  the  old  by  those  of 
the  family  to  which  the  aged  belong  lies  the  question  of 
old-age  pensions.  The  problem  here  has  its  practical 
aspects  and  cannot  be  handled  in  offhand  fashion.  The 
difficulty  is  to  preserve  the  self-respect  of  the  pensioner — 
an  important  consideration.  But  the  entire  theme  must  be 
kept  down  on  the  basis  of  the  worth  and  dignity  of  the 
human  being  as  such.  In  a  life  that  has  grown  old  natu- 
rally, without  haunting  fears,  there  comes  a  quiet  which 
catches  some  glories  of  the  upper  sky  which  the  younger 
life  cannot  see.  Or  the  aging  life  is  like  a  wooded  landscape 
in  winter  when  the  leaves  are  fallen.  With  the  leaves  gone 
the  outline  of  the  hills  is  clearer,  and  sight  reaches  farther. 

Questions  foe  Thought  and  Discussion 

1.  Can  you  think  of  any  institution  that  is  more  effective 
in  developing  unselfishness  than  the  family  ? 

2.  Can  we  have  a  Christian  state  without  Christian 
homes  ? 

3.  Name  some  great  patriots  who  attributed  their 
patriotism  to  their  mothers'  influence. 

4.  Does  democracy  in  the  home  mean  that  the  children 
are  to  be  allowed  to  run  wild  ? 

5.  I  once  knew  a  mother  who  said  that  she  would  never 
"correct"  her  children  because  she  preferred  to  rule  them 
by  love — ^by  which  she  meant  letting  them  do  as  they 
pleased.    Is  such  love  of  the  Scriptural  type  ? 

6.  Can  you  think  of  any  ways  in  which  regard  for  the 
old  conduces  to  national  stability? 

7.  Which  is  better — parental  authority  or  parental  in- 
fluence ? 

8.  How  can  a  father  best  set  forth  the  fatherhood  of 
God  to  his  children? 


59 


CHAPTEE  IX 

THE  SOCIAL  OFFENDER 

Psa.  146.  7-9;  Matt.  25.  34-40;  Luke  4.  16-19 

The  right  to  restrain  evil  conduct. — ^We  have  again  and 
again  said  that  Christian  society  should  encourage  and 
develop  the  largest  and  best  life  of  the  members  of  the 
society.  In  the  name  of  the  good  of  the  whole,  society  has 
a  right  to  interfere  with  any  individual  conduct  that  harms 
the  pubUc.  The  individual  can  say  all  he  pleases  about 
personal  liberty,  but  such  speech  will  not  long  avail  if  per- 
sonal liberty  leads  to  action  that  the  experience  of  the  race 
has  shown  to  be  harmful  to  society.  A  rabid  defender  of 
personal  liberty,  speaking  of  drunkenness,  once  said  that 
any  individual  has  the  right  to  go  to  the  devil — if  he  does 
80  as  an  individual.  It  is  a  question  as  to  how  much  going 
to  the  devil  can  be  done  strictly  on  the  individual  basis. 
Even  a  spectacle  of  a  man's  going  to  the  devil  is  socially 
harmful.  Society  has  a  right  to  restrain  the  individual  in 
devilward  courses. 

Principles  in  Dealing  With  Offendees 

Punishment  must  be  just. — Keeping  in  mind,  however, 
the  human  aim,  which  is  the  justification  for  social  or- 
ganization, there  are  fairly  clear  principles  that  must 
govern  society's  dealing  with  offenders.  The  first  is  that 
the  punishment  must  be  just.  Society  is  not  the  final  dis- 
penser of  rewards  and  punishments  to  moral  agents — that 
prerogative  belongs  to  a  higher  court — ^but  society  must  not 
be  unjust  in  any  punishment  it  inflicts.  We  say  this  be- 
cause in  times  of  excitement,  like  war  fevers,  the  courts  go 
wild  in  sentencing  offenders  whose  crime  has  been  against 
the  prosecution  of  war  or  against  public  opinion.  James 
Ford  Rhodes,  in  his  history  of  the  United  States,  severely 
criticizes  Abraham  Lincoln  for  allowing  the  frequent  use 
of  the  suspension  of  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus  during  the 

60 


THE  SOCIAL  OFFENDER 

Civil  War.  If  Lincoln  offended,  what  shall  we  say  of  recent 
sentences  of  twenty  years  or  more  for  hasty  unpatriotic  ut- 
terances, of  deportations  without  adequate  chance  for  the 
deported  to  be  heard,  of  withdrawal  from  newspapers  of 
liberty  to  print  before  offense  has  actually  been  committed  ? 
Punishment  must  indeed  fit  the  crime ;  but  when  the  pun- 
ishment is  too  big  for  the  crime,  harm  is  done  in  that  law 
is  brought  into  contempt. 

A  cure  should  be  sought. — Again,  if  the  human  values 
are  to  be  kept  sacred,  society  must  be  careful  to  ask  whether 
an  offender  has  a  wicked  will  or  a  diseased  one.  In  the  old 
days  insane  persons  were  treated  with  violence  that  would 
hardly  have  been  permissible  if  they  were  being  punished 
for  crimes  they  had  intentionally  committed.  This  made 
a  bad  situation  worse  by  making  it  inhuman.  We  all  know 
now  that  many  demented  minds  are  demented  in  only  one 
direction,  and  that  if  they  can  be  kept  from  harm  in  that 
direction  they  may  live  fairly  contented  and  measurably 
useful  lives.  In  no  quarter  is  the  spirit  of  Christ  showing 
itself  more  determinedly  than  in  the  attempt  to  deal  wisely 
with  social  offenders  whose  offense  may  have  a  root  in  a 
sick  mind.  I  once  knew  a  boy  of  seventeen  to  be  sentenced 
to  a  State  prison  for  more  than  thirty  years  for  repeated 
incendiarism  that  was  manifestly  of  the  insane  stamp. 
That  boy  should  have  been  confined,  possibly  for  life,  but 
he  should  not  have  been  placed  among  criminals. 

Human  qualities  must  be  conserved. — Once  more,  no 
punishment  should  be  inflicted  upon  an  offender,  no  matter 
how  guilty  he  may  be,  which  overlooks  the  fact  that  the 
offender  is  a  human  being  and  can  never  be  anything  else. 
Here,  moreover,  the  effect  of  a  brutalizing  punishment  on 
the  man  who  inflicts  it  and  the  public  that  sanctions  it 
must  not  be  slurred  over.  I  believe  that  society  has  a  right, 
for  example,  to  resort  to  capital  punishment  in  certain  ex- 
treme crimes.  But  have  we  often  enough  reflected  on  the 
effect  of  capital  punishment  on  the  mind  of  the  public  exe- 
cutioner, assuming  the  executioner  to  have  ordinary  human 
sensibilities  ?  We  may  well  ask  whether  society  has  a  right 
to  accept  from  a  citizen  any  service  that  leaves  the  citizen 
less  human  than  before.  But  to  get  back  to  the  criminal 
himself:  society  has  of  course  other  anxieties  besides  the 

61 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

care  of  criminals.  It  does  not  seem  fair  to  ask  society  to 
look  out  more  sharply  for  the  welfare  of  sentenced  crim- 
inals than  for  that  of  honest  men.  But  society  cannot, 
without  harm  to  itself,  long  tolerate  systems  of  punishment 
which  release  men  from  prison  less  human  than  they  went 
in.  To  put  young,  first-offense  lawbreakers  into  contact 
with  hardened  criminals  is  social  outrage.  Society  must 
prevent  prisons  from  becoming  schools  for  instruction  in 
crime.  What  social  good  is  done  if  the  youth  who  went  to 
prison  after  one  offense,  committed  in  hot  blood  or  heed- 
lessness, comes  out  knowing  all  that  the  most  experienced 
expert  in  crime  can  teach  him?  Prisons  are  not  estab- 
lished as  institutions  to  set  forth  abstract  justice;  they 
exist  for  the  good  of  society,  and  the  social  good  is  not 
well  served  if  they  become  centers  of  instruction  in  crime. 

Dangers  in  the  Administration  of  Justice 

Inequality  of  rich  and  poor. — A  further  consideration 
of  wide  human  welfare  has  to  do  with  the  inequality  of  rich 
and  poor  before  the  law.  Until  there  is  state-furnished 
legal  resource  placed  at  the  hands  of  the  poor,  this  inequal- 
ity is  practically  irremediable.  The  plight  of  the  poor  man 
seeking  his  rights  before  the  law  is  too  evident  to  need 
comment.  And  even  this  is  not  so  serious  as  the  power  of 
rich  groups  over  the  law  as  compared  with  that  of  the 
masses  of  ordinary  citizens.  We  do  not  mean  to  disparage 
lawyers.  Many  of  them  have  the  most  exacting  social 
ideals.  In  the  foremost  law  schools  in  the  United  States 
there  is  more  emphasis  on  social  spirit  than  in  some 
churches.  We  must  not  forget,  however,  that  control  over 
immense  sums  of  money  makes  possible  the  manipulation 
of  the  law  for  the  benefit  of  possessing  classes.  We  admit 
that  the  question  here  is  most  complicated.  It  used  to  be 
said  that  guilt  is  personal,  that  back  of  every  wrong  act 
there  is  a  wrong  man.  This  is  sun-clear,  of  course,  with 
purely  personal  offenses.  But  it  is  possible  to  make  out  a 
different  case  for  the  head  of  a  vast  corporation.  He  may 
be  a  good  man  personally.  He  is  acting  as  the  agent  of 
others.  He  is  a  representative  looking  after  the  interests 
of  the  investing  widows  and  orphans.  Ah,  those  widows 
and  orphans  I     What  would  modern  industry  in  a  tight 

62 


THE  SOCIAL  OFFENDER 

place  before  the  law  do  without  them?  We  cannot  send 
the  widows  and  orphans  to  jail.  And  so  it  goes!  Huge 
organizations  defying  the  law !  Mighty  corporations  flout- 
ing the  suggestions  of  the  President  of  the  United  States ! 
College  professors  rising  up  to  declare  that  government  has 
no  right  to  interfere  in  business !  And  the  primary  duty 
of  regard  for  law  in  a  democracy  pretty  badly  damaged  in 
the  eyes  of  everybody. 

Suspending  civil  processes. — But  wealth  is  not  the  only 
offender.  Even  more  dangerous  than  the  power  of  organ- 
ized wealth  is  the  impetuous  rush  of  a  popular  sentiment 
that  itself  forgets  the  law.  The  laws  of  a  people  are  their 
promises  to  all  having  dealing  with  them — the  rules  of  the 
game  which  they  have  established.  Now,  nobody  can  deny 
that  when  the  life  of  a  nation  is  at  stake,  departure  from 
the  letter  of  the  law  may  be  the  best  way  of  obeying  the 
spirit  of  the  law.  There  may  be  promises  made  in  one  set 
of  circumstances  which  cannot  be  kept  in  another  set. 
There  may  be  stages  in  the  game  when  the  rules  will  have 
to  be  set  aside.  Any  nation  has  implied  rights  upon  which 
it  can  fall  back  for  its  own  salvation.  But  we  are  here  on 
a  very  slippery  and  dangerous  footing.  It  seems  almost 
sacrilege  to  criticize  the  words  of  Abraham  Lincoln,  but 
Lincoln  once  gave  utterance  to  a  sentence,  oft  quoted, 
which  carries  with  it  hidden  perils.  Meeting  objection  to 
his  suspension  of  civil  rights  during  wartime,  Lincoln  said 
that  the  objection,  claiming  as  it  did  that  if  people  got 
used  to  having  rights  suspended  during  wartime  they 
would  be  willing  to  have  them  suspended  during  peace, 
was  just  as  reasonable  as  to  say  that  because  a  man  had  to 
take  emetics  when  he  was  sick  he  would  contract  such  a 
liking  for  emetics  that  he  would  keep  on  taking  them  after 
he  got  well.  Lincoln's  main  point  was  well  taken;  but, 
after  all,  he  dealt  rather  summarily  with  a  veritable  peril. 
If  the  nation  were  just  one  huge  person,  Lincoln's  word 
would  be  unexceptionable.  The  one  huge  person  would 
soon  be  sick  of  emetics.  But  a  nation  is  composed  of 
majorities  and  minorities.  The  majority  makes  the  minor- 
ity take  the  emetic.  And  the  majority  may  contract  such 
a  fondness  for  giving  a  minority  an  emetic  that  it  may  be 
hard  to  break  the  majority  from  the  emetic-giving  habit. 

63 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

The  Christian  Ideal 

Eliminating  temptations. — All  that  we  have  said  thus 
far  is  rather  negative.  It  remains  to  insist  that  there  is  a 
more  positive  course  for  a  Christian  commonwealth  in 
dealing  with  offenders,  that  course  being  the  study  of 
nature  and  of  human  nature  to  reduce  offense  to  the  mini- 
mum. It  ought  to  be  at  least  theoretically  possible  to 
strive  for  a  state  in  which  men  would  not  care  to  be 
offenders.  We  know  that  such  a  utopia  will  not  come  in 
our  time,  but  that  is  no  reason  why  we  should  not  con- 
template the  ideal.  The  ideal  would  imply,  on  one  side, 
the  elimination  of  as  much  temptation  as  possible.  Temp- 
tation is  inevitable  in  this  world,  but  not  all  forms  of 
temptation  are  inevitable.  Take  the  current  practically 
world-wide  attack  on  the  sale  of  alcoholic  liquors  for  bev- 
erages. A  fascinating  writer — a  woman,  by  the  way — ^re- 
cently protested  in  the  columns  of  a  foremost  American 
magazine  against  prohibition  on  the  ground  that  it  took 
away  from  her  son  the  possibility  of  achieving  moral 
strength  by  resisting  the  saloon.  Very  likely  the  woman 
did  not  have  a  son — or  had  one  merely  for  rhetorical  pur- 
poses. For  anything  more  unreal  it  would  be  hard  to  find 
than  the  view  of  life  lying  back  of  such  talk.  As  if  a 
purely  artificial  temptation  had  to  be  devised  and  kept 
going — at  whose  expense  the  writer  does  not  say — to  pro- 
vide a  field  of  moral  struggle  for  growing  youths !  By  the 
way,  the  more  one  hears  of  the  argument  of  those  bereft 
of  liquor  in  favor  of  its  return,  the  more  reason  there  is  to 
suspect  that  the  mental  damage  by  moderate  drinking  has 
been  greater  than  we  had  estimated. 

Encouraging  wholesome  activity. — On  another  side  the 
state  would  encourage  all  those  human  activities  which 
make  life  interesting  and  attractive.  If  Satan  finds  much 
for  idle  hands  to  do,  the  problem  of  unemployment  has  a 
bearing  on  the  commission  of  crime.  If  some  crimes  come 
out  of  poverty,  and  others  out  of  ignorance,  and  others  still 
out  of  desire  for  revenge  against  society  itself,  poverty  and 
ignorance  and  social  injustice  should  be  attacked  as  evils 
threatening  the  state. 

Conserving  unselfish  impulses. — ^We  have  said  that  men 

64 


THE  SOCIAL  OFFENDER 

have  self-regarding  motives  and  other-regarding  motives. 
It  is  easy  to  condemn  those  offenses  which  come  out  of  the 
self -regarding  motives;  but  how  pathetic  it  is  to  contem- 
plate those  temptations  which  arise  out  of  the  other-regard- 
ing motives  I  The  struggle  of  Jesus  in  his  temptation 
seems  to  have  come  out  of  his  regard  for  others.  He  was 
tempted  to  rely  on  merely  physical  means,  or  political 
means,  or  supernatural  means  for  the  sake  of  most  quickly 
bringing  the  kingdom  of  God,  not  to  himself  but  to  others. 
Jesus  had  a  power  of  resistance  which  we  do  not  have. 
How  terrible  it  is  for  a  mother  to  have  to  steal  not  for  her- 
self but  for  her  child !  How  tragic  that  a  husband  will  do 
wrong  for  the  sake  of  granting  the  desire  of  his  wife !  If 
the  problem  of  offense  were  just  that  of  dealing  with  those 
who  have  sinned  selfishly,  we  might  be  very  severe;  but 
offenses  come  quite  often  from  those  who  sin  for  others. 
Now,  the  other-regarding  feeling  is  the  base  on  which  the 
state  rests.  There  ought  to  be  some  way  for  Christian 
statesmanship  to  conserve  unselfishness  and  to  gratify  it 
more  extensively  through  lawful  channels.  We  cannot  rid 
the  world  of  temptation,  but  we  can  so  organize  society  as 
to  give  the  best  impulses  of  men  their  lawful  chance. 
With  more  effort  at  such  reorganization — or  such  regenera- 
tion— many  specific  problems  of  crime  will  take  care  of 
themselves. 

Questions  fob  Thought  and  Discussion 

1.  What  should  be  the  aim  of  punishment  in  Christian 
communities  ? 

2.  Can  you  think  of  any  offenses  for  which  the  com- 
munity itself  is  partly  to  blame  ? 

3.  What  happens  if  a  punishment  is  clearly  too  severe? 

4.  Name  some  ways  in  which  society  can  prevent  crime. 

5.  Name  some  social  advantages  from  the  establishment 
of  juvenile  courts. 

6.  What    do   you   think   of   suspended    sentences?    of 
paroles  ? 

7.  Is  it  ever  just  or  wise  to  allow  men  in  prisons  to  live 
in  idleness  ? 

8.  What  should  be  our  attitude  toward  men  who  have 
served  prison  terms? 

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CHAPTER  X 

AMEEICANIZATION 

Exod.  22.  21;  Ruth  2.  10-12;  Luke  22.  24-30 

One  of  the  most  widely  discussed  subjects  before  the 
American  public  to-day  is  that  of  the  Americanization  of 
the  immigrant  from  foreign  lands.  Before  entering  upon 
the  more  important  phases  of  the  debate  we  may  ask  why 
Americanization  should  be  restricted  in  our  thought  to  im- 
migrants. The  Americanization  worth  while  must  be  that 
of  the  inculcation  of  a  lofty  public  ideal.  The  American 
who  is  an  American  by  birth  may  be  a  more  alien  element 
in  a  community  than  an  immigrant  from  abroad.  The 
worst  pagans  are  the  pagans  born  in  Christian  lands — 
Christians  only  in  name.  So  the  most  utterly  non- Ameri- 
can elements  are  Americans  born  in  America  who  have 
never  been  responsive  to  American  ideals. 

The  Restkiction  of  Immigkation 

A  national  right. — Let  us  agree  forthwith  that  a  nation 
has  a  right  to  prohibit  from  its  shores  those  out  of  sym- 
pathy with  or  callous  to  the  ideals  of  human  life  for  which 
the  nation  stands.  For  group  life — smaller  group  or  larger 
group — there  must  be  such  a  measure  of  homogeneity  of 
thought  and  purpose  as  will  make  the  likenesses  in  the 
group  stronger  than  the  differences.  A  nation  may  indeed 
be  divided  into  majorities  and  minorities,  but  the  nation 
ceases  to  be  truly  a  nation  as  soon  as  the  cleavage  between 
majorities  and  minorities  becomes  so  wide  that  the  minor- 
ity will  not  acquiesce  in  the  vote  of  the  majority  but 
seizes  arms  to  fight;  or  so  wide  that  the  majority  rides 
roughshod  over  the  minority ;  or  so  wide  that  any  degree  of 
cooperation  between  the  various  groups  of  the  nation  is 
impossible.  The  national  group  has  a  right  to  say  that 
alien  elements  shall  be  received  only  in  such  numbers  as 

66 


AMERICANIZATION" 

will  make  it  possible  to  assimilate  them  reasonably  quickly 
to  the  national  standard  of  living,  type  of  life,  and  form  of 
ideal.  A  scientific  plan  for  the  regulation  of  immigration 
in  America  might  limit  the  number  of  newcomers  from 
any  outside  country  to  a  certain  per  cent  of  the  number  of 
those  already  received  from  that  country. 

Eestriction  not  unnatural  nor  unjust. — To  be  sure,  there 
are  those  who  say  that  any  restriction  or  limitation  is  un- 
natural and  wrong,  that  changes  for  good  have  resulted 
from  the  migrations  even  of  whole  peoples  into  new  lands ; 
but  it  must  be  remembered  that  such  migrations  have  been 
sheer  conquest  where  the  ideals  of  the  land  into  which  the 
peoples  moved  have  not  been  taken  into  account.  And 
where  the  ideals  have  counted  they  have  counted  because 
they  have  had  a  chance  to  take  root.  For  example,  one  of 
the  surpassing  triumphs  of  Christianity  was  the  extent  to 
which  the  successive  waves  of  peoples  rushing  into  North- 
ern and  Western  Europe  upon  the  downfall  of  the  Roman 
Empire  were,  after  the  centuries,  found  to  have  been  in- 
fluenced by  Christian  conceptions.  It  was  as  if  a  heap  of 
material  thrown  on  a  fire  with  every  prospect  of  smother- 
ing out  the  flame  should,  after  a  time,  be  found  itself  in  a 
blaze.  There  are  indeed  some  who  maintain  that  even  if 
the  yellow  peoples  were  to  overflow  the  United  States  and 
Europe,  they  would  in  the  end  be  found  to  be  Christianized 
by  the  power  of  Christian  institutions  which  they  might 
at  first  seem  to  have  smothered.  But  this  is  a  speculation 
hardly  to  be  expected  to  pass  into  actuality  in  a  day  when, 
more  and  more,  the  world-wide  social  forces  are  being 
brought  under  open-eyed,  purposeful  control.  The  believer 
in  the  Christian  system  can  find  abundant  warrant  in  the 
Scriptures  for  the  struggle  of  a  nation  to  hold  itseK  intact 
against  outside  influences  in  the  name  of  a  spiritual  ideal. 
The  Jews  indeed  sinned  through  overexclusiveness,  but  if 
they  had  not  stubbornly  stood  for  their  own  beliefs  to 
an  extent  that  finally  led  them  to  a  hatred  of  foreigners 
they  might  never  have  prepared  the  way  for  Christianity. 
There  is  a  fallacy  underlying  much  of  our  boasting  about 
the  degree  to  which  modern  communication  makes  for  the 
blessing  of  civilization  among  all  nations.  There  is  a 
physical  nearness  in  this  world  which  does  not  necessarily 

67 


CHEISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

tend  toward  the  nearness  of  mutual  understanding  and 
sympathy.  The  closer  some  persons  come  together  the 
more  they  hate  one  another.  And  so  it  may  be  with  peoples. 
For  the  sake  of  holding  intact  an  ideal  it  is  ethically  per- 
missible for  a  nation  to  limit  the  numbers  of  the  new- 
comers to  those  that  it  can  assimilate  to  its  type  of  national 
standard.  There  is  nothing  more  immoral  in  this  than  for 
a  school  to  decline  to  admit  students  beyond  the  possibility 
of  teaching  them  effectively. 

When  the  argument  loses  force. — ^We  have  put  the  argu- 
ment for  the  control  of  immigration  as  strongly  as  we  can. 
Observe,  however,  that  we  are  writing  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  ideal.  The  argument  has  value  only  if  the 
national  aim  is  toward  a  worthy  humanity.  If  the  dwellers 
in  a  land  look  upon  the  land  itself  and  its  material  possi- 
bilities as  so  much  good  material  stuif  that  they  are  to 
enjoy  for  themselves,  the  argument  loses  its  moral  force. 
Moreover,  we  ought  not  to  be  everlastingly  calling  in  the 
national  ideal  to  justify  selfish  courses.  We  have  been  say- 
ing much  in  the  last  few  months  about  the  civic  virtues  of 
the  Pilgrim  Fathers,  much  of  our  oratory  rather  suggest- 
ing that  the  descendants  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  have  in- 
herited the  virtues  of  the  Pilgrim  Fathers.  Very  con- 
ceivably if  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  could  again  visit  this  land 
they  would  be  willing  to  take  another  Mayflower  voyage  to 
get  away  from  many  of  their  own  descendants. 

Amekicanizing  the  Immigeant 

The  alien  element. — Now,  after  the  statement  as  to  the 
ideal,  let  us  see  what  we  must  regard  as  helps  to  the  ad- 
mitted immigrant  in  lifting  him  up  to  the  standard.  Some 
things  tolerated  in  America  must  go  by  the  board  at  once 
if  we  are  to  exalt  any  respectable  national  ideal.  A  dis- 
tinguished officer  of  the  foremost  industrial  organization 
in  the  United  States  has  testified  before  a  United  States 
Senate  Committee  that  many  foreigners  come  into  this 
country,  single  men  without  families,  with  no  intention  of 
becoming  American  citizens,  anxious  only  to  earn  and  save 
what  money  they  can  and  then  to  return  to  the  lands  from 
which  they  came.  This  industrial  leader  added  that  hia 
corporation  had  no  objection  to  this  as  long  as  the  men  did 

68 


AMERICANIZATION 

their  work  satisfactorily.  But  anyone  interested  in  the 
right  type  of  national  life  does  object.  Such  workers  are 
an  altogether  alien  element.  Unless  the  local  authorities 
in  the  towns  or  cities  where  they  work  are  alert,  the  room- 
ing quarters  of  these  single  men  will  only  feebly  suggest 
the  habitation  of  anything  human,  and  moral  degradation 
will  follow  not  far  behind  the  physical  heedlessness.  To 
say  that  these  men  work  so  hard  that  they  do  not  have  time 
for  immorality  is  to  betray  the  most  colossal  ignorance  of 
how  physical  conditions  breed  immorality. 

The  land  of  promises. — Again,  in  the  specific  problem 
of  immigration  tjiat  confronts  the  United  States,  it  may 
be  well  to  remember  that  the  immigrant  thinks  of  the 
United  States  not  merely  as  the  land  of  promise  but  as 
the  land  of  promises.  Multitudes  of  immigrants  in  this 
country  are  here  because  of  the  bids  of  individual  concerns 
for  cheap  labor  and  because  of  the  competition  of  steam- 
ship lines  for  transatlantic  passengers.  Promises  have 
been  made  to  the  newcomers,  or,  at  least,  specific  expecta- 
tions aroused.  "None  of  our  business,^'  we  say;  "the  in- 
dustrial concerns  did  thaf  But  a  nation  is  responsible 
for  the  type  of  industrial  life  which  it  fosters  and,  to  a 
degree,  for  the  fruitage  of  that  system.  There  is  obligation 
enough  here  to  make  it  incumbent  on  the  nation  as  such 
to  be  the  immigrant's  friend. 

The  American  standard  of  living. — ^We  have  spoken  of 
high  wages.  The  wages  ojffered  immigrants  are  high  as 
compared  with  what  they  have  received  in  their  own  lands ; 
but  they  are  not  high  enough  in  many,  many  cases  to  put 
the  laborer  upon  a  plane  where  he  can  enjoy  what  we  call 
the  American  standard  of  living.  It  is  no  reply  to  this  to 
say  that  many  foreigners  do  not  care  for  the  American 
standard,  that  if  it  were  not  for  the  school  laws  they  would 
not  even  send  their  children  to  school,  but  would  regard 
them  as  industrial  assets  and  set  them  to  work.  If  this  is 
true,  it  is  exactly  what  we  are  protesting  against.  This  is 
what  makes  recruiting  grounds  for  the  strike  breakers  when 
other  laborers  are  fighting  for  a  decent  standard  of  living. 
But  the  existence  of  this  class  is  overemphasized.  There  is 
another  class  of  foreigner  who  does  desire  to  be  an  Ameri- 
can citizen.    He  sends  his  children  to  school.    He  would 

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CHRISTIAN  CITIZElSrSHIP 

learn  English  and  study  American  history  himself  if  he 
were  not  too  tired  at  the  end  of  the  day's  work,  or  if  that 
American  barbarity,  the  twelve-hour  day,  left  him  any  time 
for  study.  And  Americanism  means  an  exalted  type  of 
family  life  as  well  as  of  qualification  for  citizenship.  Just 
what  family  life  is  possible  with  the  father  and  often  the 
mother  dead  tired  is  a  mystery.  We  concede  the  right  of 
a  nation  to  keep  out  any  class  of  foreigners  it  thinks  wise ; 
but,  having  admitted  the  foreigner,  the  nation  must  within 
reason  throw  around  him  those  conditions  which  make  for 
growth  toward  the  American  ideal. 

Individual  initiative. — Here  someone  declares  that  an 
essential  in  the  American  ideal  is  the  development  of  pri- 
vate initiative,  that  America  is  indeed  the  land  of  oppor- 
tunity— of  opportunity  to  every  man  to  make  the  most  of 
himself.  We  insist,  and  rightly,  that  America  is  not  the 
land  of  social  stratifications.  We  declare  that  the  lands  of 
the  Old  World,  with  their  social  classes,  their  tight  lines 
between  manual  laborers  and  more  skilled  craftsmen,  know 
nothing  of  the  inspiriting  vigor  of  the  free  race  that  any 
man  can  enter  in  America.  The  race,  we  are  told,  develops 
that  invigorating  spirit  of  individual  initiative  which  is  one 
of  the  glories  of  Americanism. 

The  limits  of  opportunity. — All  this  sounds  fine.  Much 
of  it  is  true,  but  it  was  more  true  formerly  than  to-day. 
The  situation  assumed  by  this  oratory  is  that  of  the  old 
days  when  the  West  held  out  its  promise  of  free  land  to 
the  pioneer.  That  West  is  gone.  Instead  of  getting  free 
land  to-day  just  by  taking  it  we  have  to  improve  the  land 
we  have.  The  frontiers  to-day  are  of  a  different  order. 
They  can  be  seized  only  by  the  trained  minds.  And  in  the 
second  generation  children  of  immigrants  in  plenty  are 
found  in  schools,  preparing  to  seize  these  frontiers.  But 
for  the  actual  laborer  from  abroad  the  race  that  seems  so 
bracing  from  the  point  of  view  of  editorial  and  magazine- 
article  writers  is  rather  a  grim  affair.  Only  a  few  get 
prizes.  For  the  rest  it  is  a  daily  and  yearly  plodding.  To 
tell  the  ordinary  immigrant  that  he  can  become  rich  in 
America  (using  the  word  ^'rich'^  for  its  current  meaning) 
is  about  like  telling  a  schoolboy  that  he  can  become  Presi- 
dent of  the  United  States.    The  proposition  is  abstractly 

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AMERICANIZATION 

true,  but  likely  to  lead  to  some  disappointment  if  taken 
concretely. 

A  challenge  to  trade  unions. — No,  the  vast  mass  of  im- 
migrants— of  those  who  actually  come  from  outside — ^will 
remain  day  laborers  to  the  end  of  their  days.  It  is  their 
children  who  will  get  the  chance.  For  the  laborers  them- 
selves the  largest  chance  is  through  collective  effort  in 
some  form  of  labor  organization.  Must  we  repeat  again 
that  this  book  holds  no  brief  for  trade  unions  as  such? 
Admit  for  the  moment  all  the  faults  alleged  against  trade 
unions.  The  most  severe  critics  of  unions  as  they  actually 
are  concede  their  ideal  possibilities.  Looking,  then,  at 
their  better  possibilities,  may  we  say  that  an  ideal  union 
would  be  a  marvelous  instrument  for  the  Americanization 
of  the  foreigner?  With  that  much  conceded  perhaps  the 
church  could,  by  taking  a  little  interest  in  labor  organiza- 
tions, encourage  the  better  style  of  leadership  among  them 
and  keep  them  from  falling  down  into  a  materialism  not 
only  unchristian  but  un-^^erican. 

Immigrant  possibilities. — Considerable  experience  with 
immigrants  convinces  me  that  they  are,  in  the  main,  among 
the  finest  of  human  stuff.  Any  man  who,  for  any  motive, 
will  tear  away  from  his  foreign  home  to  come  here  has  a 
deal  of  initiative  to  start  with.  Most  of  the  incomers  are 
of  hardy  vigor.  Most  of  them  are  drawn  at  least  in  part 
by  the  gleam  of  American  freedom  and  they  put  up  with 
much  to  win  a  foothold  in  America.  Witness  their  patience 
during  the  antiforeign  frenzy  of  the  recent  war.  The  dan- 
gerous "radicalism'^  among  them  is  negligible — dangerous 
only  when  driven  to  cover.  For  the  most  part  the  foreigner 
comes  believing  in  the  America  of  his  dreams.  He  cuts 
the  early  ties  completely  and  desires,  like  Abraham  of  old, 
that  his  son  shall  not  go  back  to  the  father's  land.  Handled 
in  any  spirit  of  Christian  brotherhood,  he  brings  to  the 
new  home  and  gives  to  that  home  more  than  he  personally 
is  ever  likely  to  get. 

Questions  foe  Thought  and  Discussion 

1.  Is  the  desire  to  come  to  America  for  a  better  living 
necessarily  an  unworthy  motive? 

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CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

2.  How  far  back  in  your  family  line  do  you  go  before 
you  find  an  immigrant  ancestor? 

3.  If  I  accept  the  hospitality  of  a  country,  what  must 
be  my  obligations  toward  the  ideals  of  that  country  ? 

4.  If  I  insist  that  immigrants  accept  American  ideals, 
what  should  be  my  own  attitude  toward  my  nation^s  ideals  ? 

5.  Do  you  think  any  large  proportion  of  immigrants  are 
socially  dangerous  characters? 

6.  What  exceptions  would  you  make  to  the  expectation 
that  every  immigrant  learn  the  language  of  the  country  to 
which  he  comes? 

7.  Can  you  think  of  some  qualities  which  you  may  well 
try  to  learn  from  the  newer  immigrants? 

8.  Who  makes  the  better  American  citizen — an  immi- 
grant drawn  by  American  social  ideals  or  a  native  who 
has  never  troubled  himself  with  those  ideals? 


72 


CHAPTER  XI 

CHRISTIAN  COMMUNITY 

Isa.  65.  17,  21-23 ;  Acts  4.  32-35 

It  may  seem  as  if  the  title  of  this  chapter  should  be 
"A  Christian  Community/^  But  there  are  some  principles 
governing  the  idea  of  community  as  such  which  can  better 
be  discussed  under  the  more  general  theme. 

The  Rights  of  the  Individual 

Individual  life  sacred. — We  have  been  saying  that  we 
are  trying  to  set  forth  ideals  that  will  make  human  life  in 
groups  mean  the  most.  May  we  repeat  once  more  that  the 
group  life  has  for  its  justification  the  development  of  the 
welfare  of  individuals  ?  So  now  we  say,  paradoxical  as  the 
expression  may  sound,  that  community  must,  in  a  Chris- 
tian order,  make  the  most  of  the  separate  lives.  There  is 
an  inalienable  sacredness  about  an  individual  life.  The 
group  must  guard  that  sacredness.  It  must  not  transgress 
upon  the  holy  precincts  of  that  which  is  distinctly  personal. 
A  socialistic  writer  once  pictured  a  psychic  island  upon 
which  a  shipwrecked  traveler  was  cast.  At  every  effort  of 
the  traveler  to  speak  to  the  native  islanders  those  islanders 
burst  into  loud  laughter.  They  finally  made  the  traveler 
comprehend  that  they  were  laughing  at  the  absurdity  of  his 
trying  to  make  himself  understood  on  their  island.  The 
island  was  a  psychic  place  where  the  thoughts  of  every  man 
lay  open  and  exposed  to  every  islander  without  speech  or 
sign.  Every  thought  everywhere  was  instantaneously  read 
by  everybody  as  soon  as  it  entered  the  mind  of  the  thinker. 

The  individnaFs  holy  of  holies. — Be  it  said  that  this 
could  not  be  a  picture  of  Christianity.  There  is  in  Chris- 
tian thinking — or  in  the  implications  of  Christian  think- 
ing-— a  holy  of  holies  in  the  life  of  the  individual  into 
which  no  outsider  has  a  right  to  enter  except  by  invita- 

73 


CHBISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

tion  of  the  owner.  Even  heaven  would  not  be  heaven  under 
the  conditions  of  this  imagined  psychic  island.  Some  of 
my  thoughts  are  strictly  my  own  business.  To  put  the 
matter  rather  roughly,  we  cannot  have  full  social  develop- 
ment unless  the  individual  citizen  has  a  right  to  insist  that 
some  affairs  are  his  own  business  and  to  tell  other  people 
to  mind  their  own  business. 

Limits  to  individual  action. — It  might  be  said  that  the 
best  tendency  in  social  progress  is  to  make  it  possible  for 
a  man  to  attend  strictly  to  his  own  business  by  insisting 
upon  common  action  in  thoee  realms  where  groups  can 
better  act  together.  It  is  best  to  do  cooperatively  the 
things  that  we  can  best  do  together.  Some  plans  cannot  be 
weU  carried  out  by  individuals  acting  separately.  If  these 
plans  are  carried  through  cooperatively,  the  individual  has 
then  a  better  chance  to  mind  his  own  business — to  make, 
in  paradoxical  words,  the  social  contribution  that  he  can 
best  make  as  an  individual. 

Spurious  individualism. — One  condemnation  of  the 
modern  competitive  system  is  that  though  it  calls  itself 
individualistic  it  so  terribly  sins  against  individualism. 
The  trend  away  from  the  separate  dwelling  house  to  the 
crowded  tenement  is  away  from  the  privacy  without  which 
the  family  and  the  individual  cannot  morally  exist.  What- 
ever else  it  may  be,  overcrowding  in  industrial  centers  is 
not  individualism.  The  system  of  community  life  for 
which  we  plead  will  make  the  most  of  that  individual 
sacredness  which  must  stand  at  the  heart  of  everything 
that  claims  to  be  Christian.  The  goal  of  the  social  in 
Christianity  is  the  individual. 

Community  Effobt 

The  aim  of  community  effort. — The  fundamental  ques- 
tion in  all  such  discussions  as  this  is  how  far  the  conunu- 
nity  effort  should  go  in  a  given  situation.  We  insist  that 
it  ought  not  to  thwart  the  individual  life,  but  we  must  keep 
in  mind  that  the  benefit  of  the  greatest  numbers  of  indi- 
viduals is  the  aim.  We  should  not  stop  short  of  socially 
doing  whatever  will  release  individuals  from  burdens  that 
hinder  their  proper  growth.    And  let  us  not  be  scared  off 

74: 


CHRISTIAN  COMMUNITY 

from  this  task  by  any  hue  and  cry  about  socialism.  Men 
have  been  acting  socially  from  the  beginning.  The  ques- 
tion for  the  future  has  to  do  with  the  extent  to  which  this 
social  effort  wiU  be  carried.  A  road,  a  highway,  is  to-day 
a  social  enterprise.  There  was  a  time  when  roadmaking 
and  road  upkeep  were  the  duty  of  individuals.  Did  the 
individuals  flourish  any  better  in  that  day  than  in  this, 
when  a  highway  is  distinctly  a  community  enterprise  ? 

An  illustration  from  roadmaking. — ^When  I  was  a  boy 
I  lived  for  a  time  in  a  country  district  where  the  roads 
were  not  fully  socialized,  as  being  a  concern  of  the  whole 
community  as  a  community.  Individuals  were  "warned 
out''  to  work  on  the  roads,  and  the  work  was  done  under  a 
sort  of  overseer.  But  the  emphasis  was  still  on  the  citizen's 
working  the  roads  nearest  his  home.  Gentle  reader,  you 
should  have  seen  the  roads  when  we  got  through  "working" 
them !  All  any  of  us  amateurs  could  do  was  to  throw  the 
earth  up  as  near  the  middle  of  the  road  as  possible  and  let 
the  passing  wheels  wear  it  down  again.  The  proposal 
finally  won  for  taking  the  roads  seriously  as  a  community 
responsibility,  centralizing  their  administration,  employ- 
ing expert  roadbuilders  paid  from  a  central  treasury. 
There  was  mighty  protest  against  all  this  in  the  name  of 
individual  liberty.  But  under  which  system  did  the  indi- 
vidual have  the  most  liberty?  The  better  roads  gave  the 
individual  more  opportunity  to  get  about,  released  him 
from  cares  which  interfered  with  his  own  sowing  and  reap- 
ing, and  in  the  long  run  cost  him  no  more  than  in  the 
old  days. 

Other  community  activities. — Another  familiar  sphere 
in  which  the  social  impulse  has  been  at  work  for  genera- 
tions is  the  public-school  system.  It  is  theoretically  pos- 
sible to  attack  the  public  school  as  socialistic,  but  does  it  or 
does  it  not  make  for  the  larger  individual  liberty?  So 
with  sanitary  regulations.  All  such  procedures  socially 
interfere  with  individual  liberty,  just  as  the  school  inter- 
feres with  the  boy's  liberty — and  with  the  parents'  liberty, 
for  that  matter — but  in  the  end  they  make  for  better  in- 
dividuals. And  so  also  with  social  regulations  interfering 
even  with  food  and  drink.  A  heated  pleader  for  the  repeal 
of  prohibition  laws  recently  cried  out:  "Better  a  nation 

75 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

free  than  a  nation  sober.'*    As  if  a  nation  could  be  free  if 
it  were  not  sober ! 

Interfering  with  business. — Community  life  aims  at  bet- 
ter individual  life.  If  the  community  activities  transgress 
so  as  to  cramp  the  growth  of  distinctive  individuality  or  if 
they  deaden  and  stifle  individual  initiative  they  are  to  be 
condemned.  This  question  becomes  most  acute  in  the  realm 
of  business.  We  are  told  that  if  government  interferes  in 
business  it  will  stamp  out  initiative.  If  such  individual 
initiative  is  stamped  out,  we  know  the  whole  social  system 
will  suffer.  Experts  must  find  out  for  us  just  what  projects 
do  promise  most  for  individuals  without  imperiling  the 
legitimate  initiative  of  other  individuals.  But  let  us  not 
talk  as  if  government  interference  in  business  were  any 
novelty.  We  are  not  arguing  against  a  protective  tariff, 
but  if  a  tariff  is  not  governmental  interference  in  the 
natural  course  of  trade  and  industry,  it  would  be  hard  to 
tell  what  is. 

A  Question  of  Social  Motive 

The  other-regarding  spirit. — This  chapter,  however, 
would  not  keep  close  to  the  Christian  basis  if  it  did  not  re- 
turn always  to  the  question  of  social  motive.  More  im- 
portant than  the  specific  details  of  any  system  is  the  spirit 
back  of  that  system.  We  have  said  much  about  the  sacred- 
ness  of  the  individual  life,  but  the  most  sacred  individual 
life  must  look  out  toward  the  common  good.  It  is  no  doubt 
too  much  to  say  that  the  spirit  back  of  a  system  will  solve 
all  problems.  The  spirit  back  of  profit  seeking  might  be 
an  other-regarding  spirit.  A  man  might  seek  profits  not 
for  himself  but  for  others.  He  might  wish  to  make  money 
to  found  hospitals  or  schools  or  to  convert  the  heathen. 
And  in  the  name  of  such  unselfishness  he  might  protest 
against  anything  that  would  interfere  with  business.  An 
unselfish  motive  in  the  conduct  of  business  must  not  be 
used  to  block  community  efforts  looking  toward  the  better- 
ment of  human  lives. 

Social  responsibility. — ^We  may  avow  our  belief,  how- 
ever, that  if  business  were  conducted  more  with  a  feeling 
of  social  responsibility,  long  strides  could  be  at  once  taken 
toward  the  betterment  of  the  business  machine.    For  if  a 

76 


CHRISTIAN  COMMUNITY 

man  were  sincerely  anxious  about  the  public  welfare,  he 
would  soon  be  thinking  of  that  welfare  in  general  terms 
covering  the  effect  of  his  method  of  conducting  business 
upon  the  total  Hfe  of  the  community.  It  would  now  ap- 
pear that  there  are  ways  of  helping  communities  quite  as 
important  as  accumulating  money  to  be  spent  even  in 
philanthropy.  We  do  not  retract,  however,  our  statement 
of  our  belief  that  in  the  end  the  industrial  system  must 
be  judged  by  its  material  productivity.  Only,  we  believe 
that  a  widespread  social  spirit  among  employers  and  labor- 
ers and  general  public  will  in  the  end  make  for  bigger 
material  productivity. 

Examples  of  unselfish  service. — ^If  there  are  those  who 
insist  that  society  cannot  run  without  unremitting  em- 
phasis on  the  money  motive,  let  them  remember  that  society 
itself  has  fostered  the  growth  of  some  institutions  that  do 
not  appeal  primarily  to  the  money  motive.  Let  us  not  in- 
deed be  led  astray  by  any  glorification  of  war,  but  the 
appeal  to  soldiers  has  not  in  modern  times  been  a  money 
appeal.  The  appeal  in  the  Great  War  was  to  make  the 
world  safe  for  democracy.  In  the  safeguarding  of  cities 
from  fire,  again,  the  appeal  is  not  to  the  money  motive. 
City  fire  fighters  take  risks  constantly  that  no  money  in- 
ducement would  warrant.  It  is  interesting,  too,  to  notice 
the  ethical  strenuousness  of  the  codes  that  bodies  of  physi- 
cians and  teachers  and  engineers  formulate  for  themselves. 
Some  of  the  points  in  these  codes  seem  to  us  to  be  over- 
refined,  but  back  of  all  is  a  social  motive.  The  most  thor- 
oughly trained  minds  in  our  nation  are  to  be  found,  in 
large  part,  in  the  three  professions  named,  yet  to  bring  a 
charge  of  selfishness  against  these  professions  would  be  in 
the  last  degree  absurd.  Teachers  are  notoriously  and 
scandalously  underpaid ;  if  physicians  and  surgeons  charge 
large  fees,  most  of  them  use  these  to  make  possible  service 
for  which  no  charge  is  made;  the  engineers  of  the  United 
States  have,  twice  within  a  year,  made  reports  (one  on  the 
twelve-hour  day  in  industry  and  one  on  economic  waste) 
which  must  have  been  actuated  by  social  motive.  While 
the  war  fever  was  still  on  the  United  States,  twelve  of  the 
foremost  legal  authorities  of  the  country  signed  a  protest 
against  the  illegal  acts  of  the  attorney-general  of  the 

77 


CHEISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

United  States  when  every  selfish  consideration  wag  on  the 
sidt  of  their  holding  their  tongues. 

Shaeing  Higher  Goods 

Sharing  that  does  not  impoverish. — Far  above  all,  there 
can  hardly  be  Christian  community  until  we  think  more 
about  sharing  the  higher  goods.  There  are  some  forms  of 
goods  that  have  this  for  their  peculiarity — ^namely,  that  the 
more  the  owner  gives  them  away  the  more  they  become  his 
own.  What  can  be  truer  riches  than  thought  itself  ?  The 
thought  of  the  thinker  is  more  deeply  his  own  than  any 
external  possession  can  be;  yet  the  instant  the  thinker 
seeks  to  communicate  his  thought,  the  more  intimately  it 
becomes  his  own.  The  very  expression  of  the  thought  sinks 
it  anew  into  the  mind  of  its  author  with  fresh  power.  So 
with  any  form  of  expression,  philanthropic,  artistic,  scien- 
tific. It  is  in  this  realm  of  the  communication  of  spiritual 
treasures  that  the  splendid  joys  of  life  are  found.  Here  is 
a  realm  of  mutual  sharing  in  which  giving  does  not  impov- 
erish, and  in  which  receiving  makes  fuller  giving  possible. 
For  he  who  shares  the  thought  of  the  thinker  makes  an 
atmosphere  in  which  the  thinker  is  spurred  on  to  further 
achievement.  Take  even  a  scientific  discovery  like  the 
wireless  telegraph.  The  first  glimpse  of  the  new  possibility 
requires  indeed  the  keen  discernment  of  the  mind  of  the 
first  order,  but  once  the  discovery  is  announced  it  can  be 
grasped  by  the  minds  of  boys  of  fifteen,  and  the  grasping 
minds  of  hosts  of  students  make  possible  the  manifold  im- 
provements of  which  no  one  man  could  think.  And  a  new 
current  quickening  all  minds  runs  through  the  social  body 
itself. 

Incorruptible  treasures. — Purple  and  fine  linen,  sump- 
tuous food,  gorgeous  palaces,  cannot  well  be  shared.  But 
all  the  higher  goods,  which  make  possible  the  kingdom  of 
man  and  of  God,  can  be  shared.  When  we  reach  the  day  of 
enough  food  and  clothes  and  houses  to  go  round  we  shaU  be 
blind  if  we  do  not  see  that  these  are  only  the  first  steps  in 
the  kingdom  whose  real  treasures  moth  and  rust  cannot 
corrupt.  Nor  can  thieves  steal  higher  riches,  for  they  are 
of  the  heart  and  can  only  be  seized  by  spirits  akin  to  those 

78 


CHEISTIAN  COMMUNITY 

who  already  have  them.    And  the  sharing  impoverish^  no 
one  but  makes  all  givers  and  receivers  alike  richer. 

Questions  for  Thought  and  Discussion 

1.  Does  Christian  community  warrant  intrusion  into 
another's  affairs? 

2.  What  if  those  "personal  affairs'*  are  harming  the  com- 
munity ? 

3.  What  justification  is  there  for  the  common  remark: 
"I  intend  to  run  my  business  as  I  please''  ? 

4.  Are  there  many  forms  of  business  which  are  just  the 
business  man's  own  business  ? 

5.  Name  some  forms  of  goods  which  we  can  give  away 
and  yet  keep. 

6.  Have  the  greatest  inventors  been  most  anxious  about 
money  remuneration  ? 

7.  If  a  physician  should  discover  a  cure  for  tuberculosis 
and  then  insist  upon  using  it  solely  for  his  personal  profit, 
what  would  you  think  of  him? 

8.  Are  physicians  more  bound  by  the  law  of  service  than 
the  others  of  us? 


79 


CHAPTER  XII 

WORLD  CITIZENSHIP 

Isa.  2.  2,  3;  Matt.  6.  9-13 

In  considering  world  citizenship  the  Christian  must 
keep  in  mind  the  same  goal  that  is  to  determine  all  his 
social  thinking — the  fullest  and  best  life  for  actual  persons. 
The  purpose  is  not  to  build  up  any  huge  world  state  as  an 
end  in  itseK;  the  intent  is  to  do  good  to  people. 

The  Value  of  National  Gkoups 

National  self -feeling. — World  citizenship  must  found  it- 
self on  the  worth  of  the  national  groups  composing  a 
brotherhood  of  nations.  The  man  who  declares  that  he  is 
above  all  countries  and  a  citizen  of  the  world  is  not  as  use- 
ful as  the  man  who  says  that  he  belongs  to  a  national  group 
that  is  a  constituent  element  in  a  brotherhood  of  nations. 
For  as  long  a  distance  as  we  can  see  ahead  democracy  will 
tend  toward  ever-widening  federations  of  groups.  National 
self-feeling  is  one  of  the  mightiest  actual  forces  in  the 
world  to-day.  It  is  all  very  well  for  socialists  to  say  that 
the  suddenness  with  which  governments  acted  in  1914  pre- 
vented the  international  feeling,  which  is  above  all  par- 
ticular nations,  from  asserting  itself  against  the  prosecu- 
tion of  the  war;  the  truth  is  that  the  national  feeling 
asserted  itself  in  more  forceful  form  than  the  international 
feeling.  If  internationalism  expects  to  win  by  stamping 
out  nationalism  there  is  no  hope  for  us.  The  lengths  to 
which  groups  will  go  under  the  nationalist  feeling  can 
hardly  be  measured.    Witness  Ireland. 

Conserving  this  value. — Now,  the  Christian  internation- 
alist may  just  as  well  face  this  feeling.  And  he  may  as 
well  admit  that  the  feeling  should  be  corrected  and  con- 
served and  strengthened.  No  internationalism  is  worth 
while  which  seeks  for  a  dead  level  of  uniformity  among 

80 


WORLD  CITIZENSHIP 

nations.     True  internationalism  desires  the  conservation 
of  whatever  is  of  value  in  national  groups. 

The  Path  to  War  and  the  Path  to  Peace 

Peace  depends  on  international  cooperation. — It  is  be- 
coming increasingly  evident  that  the  preservation  of  such 
worth-while  social  elements  will  be  possible  only  in  some 
international  organization.  We  hold  no  brief  for  any  par- 
ticular scheme  of  organization,  but  some  scheme  there  must 
be  if  the  nations  are  not  all  to  sink  together  undei  the  cost 
of  arming  against  one  another.  These  shopworn  and  time- 
worn  arguments  about  the  humiliation  of  surrendering  any 
jot  or  tittle  of  a  nation^s  dignity  will  have  to  go  to  the 
rubbish  heap.  The  path  of  national  liberty  now  leads 
straight  to  some  plan  of  international  cooperation.  Some 
bonds  lead  to  freedom.  Some  surrenders  lead  to  victory. 
Some  narrow  paths  lead  to  broadening  landscapes.  The 
United  States  is  now  paying  for  wars,  past  and  future, 
ninety-two  cents  out  of  every  dollar  raised  from  taxation — 
and  a  heavy  taxation  at  that.  Suppose  that  mutual  under- 
standing among  the  nations  should  reduce  the  possibility 
of  war  so  that  eight  cents  only  out  of  the  dollar  raised  by 
taxation  had  to  be  set  aside  for  war,  and  the  ninety-two 
cents  could  go  for  schemes  of  social  betterment.  In  which 
direction  then  would  liberty  lie  ? 

The  leveling  influence  of  war. — The  fault  has  been,  not 
in  the  national  self -feeling  itself,  but  in  the  shape  that  has 
been  put  upon  that  feeling,  making  it  an  instrument  for 
war,  in  utter  oversight  of  the  fact  that  war  is  one  of  the 
most  leveling  forces  in  the  universe.  It  does  not  tend  to 
national  distinctiveness;  it  grinds  out  the  distinctiveness. 
For  all  except  a  few  leaders  war  is  the  death  of  that  initia- 
tive out  of  which  all  progress  comes.  And,  taking  the 
world  over,  armies  in  the  mass  are  pretty  much  alike.  The 
path  to  war  is  the  path  of  sameness — a  sameness  of  pre- 
dominance of  the  lower  human  faculties. 

A  nation's  destiny. — But  is  not  every  nation  at  some 
time  seized  with  the  frenzy  of  belief  in  its  own  manifest 
destiny,  and  do  not  wars  come  out  of  such  frenzy?  Un- 
doubtedly they  do,  but  undoubtedly  also  the  impulse  should 
lead  in  exactly  the  opposite  direction.    Destiny  is  surely 

81 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

a  poverty-stricken  conception  if  it  can  be  phrased  only  in 
material  terms.  A  nation  does  not  have  to  be  huge  in  size 
to  develop  thinkers,  and  what  the  world  has  needed  has 
always  been  thinkers.  A  military  nation  does  indeed  de- 
velop a  high  type  of  specialized  intellect,  but  of  that  purely 
instrumental  stamp  which  we  shall  aU  be  glad  to  forget  as 
soon  as  the  need  for  it  has  passed  away.  The  military 
intellect  never  rises  to  the  height  of  producing  anything 
that  stands  out  as  an  end  in  itself  before  the  contemplation 
of  the  human  mind. 

An  economic  argnment. — But  another  says  that  wars 
arise  out  of  the  pressure  of  the  population  of  the  nations 
upon  supplies  of  foodstuffs  and  raw  materials.  As  these 
supplies  are  limited,  there  will  always  be  conflict  for  what 
supplies  there  are.  This  argument  assumes  that  organized 
societies  will  never  have  sense  enough  to  face  a  fact  situa- 
tion or  to  deal  with  it  when  they  do  face  it.  Assume  for 
the  moment  that  there  is  this  limited  supply  of  material 
goods  over  against  a  human  demand  greater  than  the  sup- 
ply. Let  us  look  at  a  purely  economic  illustration.  A 
generation  ago  there  were  in  some  parts  of  the  United 
States  too  many  railroads  for  the  freight  and  passenger 
service  required  by  the  community.  The  result  was  what 
was  called  cutthroat  competition — competition  that  would 
literally  have  cut  throats  if  the  law  had  allowed.  Rail- 
roads were  ruined — ^until  out  of  the  ruins  more  far-reach- 
ing systems  were  built  up,  which  merged  the  competing 
elements  into  harmonious  wholes,  or  agreements  were 
reached  among  the  roads  themselves  as  to  division  of 
traffic.  This  did  not  necessarily  increase  the  amount  of 
goods  or  people  to  be  hauled,  but  it  did  stop  the  war. 
Under  a  system  of  such  unified  management  the  carriage 
of  some  roads  was  decreased,  but  the  community  on  the 
whole  was  better  served.  Even  if  the  economic  is  the  de- 
termining factor  in  shaping  the  courses  of  nations,  is  there 
any  reason  why  the  nations  cannot  come  to  agreements  that 
will  do  away  with  war  ?  And  if  they  could  once  get  rid  of 
war,  they  might  so  turn  their  energies  upon  the  conquest 
of  the  earth  as  to  increase  vastly  the  returns  from  the  earth. 
More  than  that,  relieved  of  the  burden  of  war,  the  nation 
might  do  something  to  control  population  increase  itself. 

82 


WOKLD  CITIZENSHIP 

It  is  entirely  conceivable  that  a  humanized  race  might  keep 
the  race  itself  within  the  bounds  that  the  earth  could  sup- 
port by  perfectly  unquestionable  methods,  such  as  the 
growth  of  moral  self-restraint  and  a  high  standard  of 
family  life. 

Pigs  in  a  trough. — If  the  international  contracts  are 
nothing  but  the  scuffing  of  pigs  around  a  trough,  there 
ought  to  be  some  way  of  making  the  pigs  see  that  the  fight- 
ing spills  much  of  the  provender;  that  if  the  strongest 
would  forego  shoving  just  a  little,  the  weakest  would  not 
always  be  raising  such  an  ear-splitting  outcry.  Even  the 
scuffle  around  a  trough  can  be  made  less  fierce  by  the  exer- 
cise of  no  more  sense  than  a  pig  is  supposed  to  have. 

Gentlemanly  statesmanship. — But  this  illustration  is 
distressingly  vulgar,  though  no  more  vulgar  than  the 
facts  of  international  conflicts  themselves.  In  truth,  when 
we  take  into  account  the  lying  of  diplomats,  the  perversion 
of  public  thought,  the  horrors  of  international  killings,  the 
advantage  is  with  the  pigs  as  over  against  the  human 
beings.  Suppose,  however,  it  becomes  possible  for  the 
nations  of  the  earth  to  assemble  around  a  table,  not  as  pigs, 
but  as  gentlemen.  What  is  necessary  before  the  interna- 
tional contact  can  be  that  of  a  body  of  gentlemen?  To 
answer  this  question  will  give  us  some  marks  of  Christian 
world  citizenship.  The  first  requisite  would  be  an  honest 
determination  by  all  to  tell  the  truth.  Just  how  it  is  pos- 
sible for  men  to  think  that  a  lie  told  a  nation  is  a  victory 
of  statesmanship  while  the  same  lie  told  an  individual 
would  be  the  sign  of  a  knave  is  one  of  the  international 
mysteries.  The  second  requisite  around  an  international 
table  would  be  that  of  mutual  respect.  To  secure  the 
respect  of  others  a  man  must  have  self-respect.  So  with 
a  nation.  Let  the  nation  come  to  the  international  table 
with  self-respect,  but  with  self-respect  that  leads  to  sin- 
cere respect  for  other  nations.  Here,  again,  we  stumble 
upon  a  mystery.  As  gentlemen  meet  around  a  table  we  can 
know  that  their  self-respect  will  make  them  willing  to 
respect  others.  Again,  the  man  who  respects  his  own 
family  most  has  the  most  respect  for  other  people's  fami- 
lies. But  in  the  international  sphere  the  alleged  patriot  is 
often  the  one  who  talks  loudly  about  the  virtues  of  his  own 

83 


CHEISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

land  and  berates  other  lands.  This  could  not  be  if  the 
ideal  of  the  gentleman  held  as  the  ideal  of  international 
dealing.  When  the  day  of  international  gentlemanliness 
dawns,  it  will  be  possible  for  an  American  to  know  and  to 
say  that  in  some  respects  England  is  a  better  democracy 
than  the  United  States,  and  that  in  some  other  respects 
France  is  a  better  democracy  than  either  the  United  States 
or  England,  without  being  looked  upon  as  tainted  with  at 
least  potential  treason.  After  such  recognition  advocacy 
of  the  strong  points  in  United  States  democracy  wiU  be 
all  the  more  effective.  Christianity  means  mutual  appre- 
ciation between  persons.  To  make  international  contacts 
Christian  the  same  mutual  appreciation  will  have  to  come 
into  being.  It  takes  the  world  a  discouragingly  long  while 
to  learn  this  lesson.  The  Scriptures  have  been  trying  to 
teach  it  from  the  days  of  Isaiah,  but  men  have  been  slow 
beyond  all  description. 

The  family  of  nations. — We  take  one  further  step  up- 
ward and  express  the  hope  that  some  fair  day  the  nations 
of  the  earth  may  meet,  not  Just  as  gentlemen  around  a 
table,  but  as  members  of  a  family  around  the  table.  Then 
all  thought  of  fighting  for  food  will  have  disappeared.  The 
stronger  will  willingly  give  for  the  protection  of  the 
weaker.  This  may  seem  to  be  beyond  the  possibilities  of 
human  nature,  but  let  us  remember  that  there  was  a  time 
in  the  history  of  the  race  when  any  seer  who  could  have 
looked  ahead  and  have  seen  the  measure  of  success  which 
the  race  has  now  with  the  family  would  have  been  pro- 
nounced a  lunatic.  If  it  is  replied  that  that  was  a  long 
while  ago,  the  rejoinder  must  be  that  as  men  see  what  they 
can  do  and  deliberately  set  themselves  to  the  doing,  events 
can  be  made  to  move  with  tremendous  speed.  The  ideal  of 
the  family  of  nations  is  not  at  all  absurd. 

Nonadult  nations. — One  of  the  questions  on  whose  solu- 
tion the  safety  of  the  world  depends  is  that  of  the  relation 
of  the  so-caUed  higher  nations  to  the  so-called  backward 
nations.  The  favored  expression  now,  as  we  contemplate 
some  less  favored  peoples,  is  "nonadult''  peoples.  Now, 
the  only  conception  that  we  can  safely  use  in  dealing  with 
nonadult  peoples  is  that  of  the  family.  If  the  less  favored 
peoples  are  nonadult,  we  may  well  ask  ourselves  how  we  are 

84 


WOELD  CITIZENSHIP 

to  treat  them  so  that  they  may  be  helped  along  toward 
adult  life.  The  expression  '^nonadulf  was  probably  coined 
with  the  idea  of  stamping  the  less  favored  nations  as  in- 
ferior, but  the  expression  has  implications  possibly  unfore- 
seen by  the  maker  of  the  phrase.  We  do  not  deal  with 
nonadults  by  shooting  them  or  by  robbing  them  or  by  sub- 
jecting them  to  constant  humiliation,  nor  do  we  treat  them 
on  the  assumption  that  they  are  always  to  be  nonadults.  It 
is  true  that  nonadults  sometimes  need  guardianship  or 
trusteeship,  but  always  such  measures  are  temporary  if  we 
are  dealing  with  normal  human  beings  at  all.  The  rela- 
tions of  the  so-called  higher  races  with  the  so-called  lower 
races  have  been  up  to  date  an  almost  unrelieved  horror. 
We  are  dealing  here  with  perhaps  the  darkest  stain  on  the 
history  of  the  human  race.  Let  us  take  the  word  "non- 
adult,"  not  as  a  euphemism  to  cover  up  the  evil  of  the 
forced  labor  of  Africans,  for  example,  or  the  seizure  of 
lands  of  uncivilized  peoples,  or  the  denial  of  manhood 
rights  to  Negroes  in  our  own  lands,  but  as  a  Christian  ideal 
for  the  guidance  of  the  more  favored  peoples  in  their  rela- 
tion to  the  less  favored.  A  wise  economist  has  said  that 
with  the  modern  struggle  for  supplies  of  raw  materials  the 
world  is  not  safe  unless  three  ideals  govern  the  dealings  of 
favored  with  less  favored  nations:  first,  the  ideal  of  the 
good  of  mankind  as  a  whole;  secondly,  the  ideal  of  the 
good  of  the  backward  people;  thirdly,  the  ideal  of  the  good 
of  the  particular  nation  dealing  with  the  backward  people. 
And  we  may  say  that  the  contact  is  not  Christian  until  this 
trio  of  ideals  governs  in  the  plans  of  internationalism. 

Questions  foe  Thought  and  Discussion 

1.  Is  patriotism  compatible  with  admiration  for  other 
countries  than  one's  own  ? 

2.  Do  you  think  God  is  less  interested  in  international 
righteousness  to-day  than  he  was  in  the  days  of  Isaiah  ? 

3.  Have  you  ever  read  the  book  of  Jonah  with  its  inter- 
national teaching  in  mind  ? 

4.  How  much  force    is  there  in  the  claim  that  war 
toughens  the  fiber  of  nations  ? 

5.  How  can  nationalist  feeling  be  utilized  for  good? 

85 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

6.  Is  any  people  good  enough  to  be  the  ruler  of  another 
people  without  the  other  people's  consent? 

7.  Should  the  same  codes  of  morals  hold  in  the  contacts 
of  nations  as  of  individuals? 

8.  Can  a  nation  which  is  exploiting  the  riches  of  a  non- 
Christian  land  for  selfish  purposes  effectively  preach  the 
gospel  in  that  land  ? 


86 


CHAPTEE  XIII 

EELIGION  HAS  THE  LAST  WOED 

Mic.  6.  6-8;  1  Cor.  15.  20-28;  John  14.  7-9 

We  began  this  series  of  discussions  by  saying  that  there 
can  be  no  legitimate  contrast  between  an  individual  gospel 
and  a  social  gospel.  By  the  necessary  law  of  its  life  the 
individual  gospel  must  expand.  It  cannot  remain  shut  up 
within  itself.  If  it  does  it  dies.  If  it  is  to  expand  it  must 
push  out  into  that  realm  which  we  call  the  social.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  expansion  of  religion  thus  outward  urges 
upon  us  the  need  of  ever  increasing  the  force  at  the  inner 
center.  The  more  ground  religious  practice  is  to  cover, 
the  more  intense  must  be  the  power  at  the  center,  so  that 
the  evangelists  and  teachers  and  pastors  who  labor  to 
deepen  that  inner  spring  of  religious  purpose  must  in  the 
last  analysis  be  those  to  whom  we  look  for  the  power  which 
will  bring  about  social  regeneration. 

The  Social  Value  of  the  Negativb 

It  is  the  custom  in  some  quarters  to  criticize  the  personal 
religious  ideal  as  negative.  So  much  emphasis  is  put  on 
moral  purity,  we  are  told,  that  religion  becomes  sterilized 
and  barren.  May  we  remark  that  there  is  a  negative 
achievement  in  religious  experience  which  has  social  value  ? 
The  citizen  to-day  wields  instruments  of  vast  social  im- 
port. Even  if  the  citizen  himself  does  not  wield  his  ballot, 
let  us  say,  with  very  positive  political  purpose,  the  fact  that 
he  does  not  vote  with  a  mean  or  selfish  purpose  is  of  social 
significance.  The  surgeon  to-day  wields  the  sharpest  knives 
that  science  can  make,  but  these  edges  can  spread  disease 
instead  of  cure  if  they  are  not  scientifically  cleansed.  Now, 
cleansing  an  instrument  in  boiling  water,  let  us  say,  seems 
like  a  negative  surgical  process ;  but  if  that  negative  process 
is  neglected,  the  sharper  the  knife  the  deeper  it  will  carry 

87 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

an  infection.  It  would  not  be  safe  to  allow  these  instru- 
ments in  the  hands  of  a  filthy  practitioner.  It  is  dangerous 
for  the  ballot  to  be  in  the  hands  of  men  who  vote  with  un- 
clean purposes  or  selfish  aim. 

Or  the  selfish  voter  is  like  the  disease  carrier  who 
through  his  lack  of  personal  cleanliness  spreads  the  seeds  of 
epidemic  through  the  community.  The  carrier  himself 
may  not  be  sick  in  any  alarming  degree,  but  he  makes  in- 
evitable the  death  of  others  not  so  immune  as  himself.  So 
the  citizen  who  announces  selfish  views  of  government  or 
politics  is  a  source  of  danger  to  minds  less  trained  or  more 
sincere  than  his  own.  The  advice  such  a  citizen  gives  may 
cause  an  epidemic  of  political  sin  or  folly. 

It  would  be  of  prime  value,  then,  if  we  could  have  all  the 
voters  absolutely  cleansed  from  the  impurity  of  selfishness, 
and  all  impurities  are  at  bottom  phases  of  selfishness.  Still, 
the  work  must  not  stop  there.  At  the  heart  of  the  righteous 
life  stands  the  will  to  do  right,  and  doing  right  is  posi- 
tive. Any  institution  that  strengthens  that  central  pur- 
pose to  do  right  is  of  social  value  of  the  first  order.  The 
church,  for  example,  may  not  be  able  to  tell  in  a  particular 
situation  just  what  the  right  course  is,  but  it  can  mightily 
reenforce  the  efforts  of  men  to  find  that  right  course  by 
developing  the  will  to  do  right.  The  obligation  to  the  good 
wiU — this  is  fundamental  in  Christianity,  and  Christianity 
must  ever  strengthen  and  develop  that  will. 

The  Social  Value  of  the  Doctkine  op  Immortality 

Suppose  now  that  we  look  at  the  social  value  of  one  or 
two  ideas  of  Christianity  which  are  often  characterized  by 
social  workers  as  too  dogmatic  and  too  personal.  Take  the 
idea  that  makes  one  type  of  social  worker  most  impatient — 
the  Christian  emphasis  on  a  belief  in  immortality.  The 
critic  at  the  start  resents  the  dogmatic  nature  of  the 
preaching  of  immortality ;  then  he  declares  that  it  distracts 
men's  minds  from  remediable  situations  on  earth  by  divert- 
ing their  attention  to  another  life ;  finally,  he  is  offended 
by  the  selfishness  of  the  belief  in  immortality.  These  argu- 
ments have  been  so  often  repeated  that  there  is  no  need  of 
elaborating  them  here.  Suffice  it  to  say  they  are  held  valid 
by  scores  upon  scores  of  sincere  social  workers. 

88 


KELIGION  HAS  THE  LAST  WORD 

Faith,  not  proof. — As  to  the  dogmatic  preaching  of  im- 
mortality we  wonder  if  anybody  these  days,  outside  of 
mediumistic  and  spiritualistic  circles,  preaches  immortal- 
ity dogmatically.  Any  intelligent  preacher  admits  that 
there  is  no  direct  proof  of  immortality.  The  belief  anchors 
itself  down  upon  the  Christlike  character  of  God.  Of 
course,  we  are  moving  here  altogether  in  the  realm  of  faith. 
The  believer  in  immortality  has  a  right  to  remind  his  op- 
ponent, however,  that  while  there  is  no  direct  proof,  there 
is  also  no  disproof.  The  field  is  open  for  belief,  and  the 
battle  is  between  beliefs. 

The  belief  not  selfish. — And  the  objection  to  the  selfish- 
ness of  belief  in  immortal  life  is  not  especially  well  taken. 
All  social  effort  bases  itself  on  the  idea  of  the  service  of  our 
fellow  man  as  a  high  aim  in  itself.  Just  what  selfishness 
there  is  in  desiring  a  continuance  of  opportunity  for 
human  service  beyond  this  life  is  difiicult  to  say.  As  we 
look  upon  the  noble  efforts  of  many  servants  of  mankind 
and  contemplate  the  joy  they  manifestly  find  in  the  service 
we  could  desire  nothing  better  for  such  knightly  souls  than 
that  they  should  have  infinite  and  endless  field  for  the 
revelation  of  the  fineness  of  their  own  spirit.  The  worth 
of  eternal  life  all  depends  on  the  qualify  of  eternal  life. 
A  good  deal  depends,  if  we  may  speak  in  terms  of  the  econ- 
omist, on  whether  we  are  thinking  just  of  a  consumer's 
heaven  or  a  producer's  heaven.  If  eternal  life  is  con- 
ceived of  as  a  field  in  which  we  are  passively  to  receive, 
we  rather  resent  such  an  eternity;  but  if  eternal  life  is 
conceived  of  as  opportunity  for  unlimited  self-expression 
in  good-willed  activity,  we  have  a  problem  of  another  order. 
We  may  admit  that  the  human  imagination  has  not  yet  pic- 
tured any  concrete  heaven  worth  going  to  aside  from  the 
promise  of  human  and  divine  fellowships  in  full-orbed 
activities.    But  that  promise  is  enough. 

Boes  the  belief  discourage  social  effort  ? — The  argument 
that  the  belief  in  immortality  slows  down  activity  looking 
to  the  betterment  of  earthly  conditions  is  entitled  to  more 
serious  consideration.  We  must  remember,  though,  that 
we  are  now  talking  from  the  point  of  view  of  the  worth  of 
beliefs,  and  not  from  that  of  the  logical  reasons  for  belief. 
The  debate,  then,  is  between  the  varying  worths  of  beliefs 

59 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

stated  in  social  terms.  There  is  altogether  too  much  reason 
for  the  statement  that  the  belief  in  immortality  slows  down 
social  activity.  Booker  Washington  used  to  say  that  the 
Southern  Negro's  song  "Take  the  world  but  give  me 
Jesus''  provided  a  practical  platform  on  which  the  South- 
em  white  man  was  entirely  willing  to  stand.  In  the  last 
war  it  was  particularly  inspiring  when  profiteers,  who  were 
making  millions  overnight  out  of  war  munitions,  urged  the 
preachers  to  say  more  about  the  consolations  of  immortal- 
ity to  soldiers  going  forth  to  die. 

The  dignity  of  mankind. — But  such  considerations  do 
not  squarely  settle  the  issue.  The  winning  force  in  the 
end  will  be  the  more  worthful  idea  of  the  dignity  of  men. 
The  mighty  power  in  the  Christian  Scriptures  as  a  socially 
recreative  agent  has  been  the  joined  idea  of  the  dignity  of 
man  and  of  the  moral  nature  of  God.  Even  if  they  are 
creatures  of  the  day  and  vanish  with  the  coming  of  an 
early  night  men  are  indeed  worth  while  in  themselves. 
The  notion  that  if  men  are  not  immortal  we  need  take  no 
particular  interest  in  them  is  unworthy  of  a  human  being. 
It  does  not  follow  that  because  men  are  mortal  we  are  not 
to  hold  before  them  the  finer  values.  But  simply  as  a  mat- 
ter of  common  sense  we  find  a  new  sky  over  our  heads  if 
we  can  believe  in  men  as  inheritors  of  eternal  life.  The 
doctrine  need  not  be  dogmatically  preached.  It  need  not 
occupy  any  extended  place  in  preaching  at  all.  But  it 
makes  a  difference  in  the  background  of  the  social  thought 
and  effort.  A  statesman  once  said  that  it  is  well  for  us  to 
take  long  views  even  if  we  have  to  act  on  short  views.  The 
long  view  of  which  we  speak  adds  to  our  thought  of  the 
dignity  of  man  here  and  now.  And  that  conception  of  dig- 
nity seems  to  us  to  have  more  social  worth  than  the  opposed 
view. 

The  Social  Value  of  Belief  in  the  Cheistlikb  God 

Seeing  Christ  as  a  human  ideal. — ^Look  at  another  view 
— ^that  which  in  some  unique  way  connects  the  life  of 
Christ  with  God.  There  has  never  been  a  time  when  men 
have  been  more  willing  to  concede  the  value  of  the  teaching 
of  Jesus  as  a  solvent  of  social  distresses  than  to-day.  Men 
who  reject  outright  the  creeds  and  the  organizations  of 

90 


RELIGION  HAS  THE  LAST  WORD 

Christianity  believe  in  the  ideals  and  the  spirit  of  Jesus. 
In  those  horrible  days  of  1914-18,  when  some  Christian 
preachers  were  dressing  Christ  in  khaki  and  making  him  a 
hurler  of  gas  bombs,  other  men,  who  denied  Christianity, 
saw  Christ  in  his  truer  light  as  the  foe  of  war  itself,  and 
took  a  more  loyal  attitude  toward  Christ  than  did  the  pro- 
fessed ministers  of  Christ,  affirming  that  it  was  better  to 
admit  that  the  ideal  of  Christ  is  at  present  too  high  for  us 
than  to  lower  the  ideal  itself.  But  when  we  begin  in  any 
way  to  speak  of  Christ  as  the  revelation  of  God,  these  same 
foes  of  Christianity,  some  of  whom  are  Christians  in  spirit, 
cry  out  against  introducing  an  age-worn  debate  about  the 
divinity  of  Christ.  "Christ  stands  in  his  own  right,'^  they 
say.  "Let  us  cherish  him  just  as  he  is  without  raising  any 
of  these  metaphysical  questions  about  the  likeness  of  Christ 
to  God.'' 

An  inspiring  belief. — We  have  no  desire  to  be  meta- 
physical. We  are  now  in  the  realm  of  belief,  not  of  proof. 
We  are  speaking  of  those  beliefs  which  are  most  likely  to 
be  of  social  benefit.  And  we  say  that  the  important  ques- 
tion just  now  is  not  whether  Christ  is  like  God  but  whether 
God  is  like  Christ.  We  are  not  pleading  for  any  particular 
theological  statement  whatever.  If  the  social  leader  says 
that  he  is  inspired  in  his  work  by  the  conception  of  a  scien- 
tific law  that  binds  all  the  universe  together,  why  can  he 
not  be  even  more  inspired  by  the  thought  of  a  moral  pur- 
pose that  runs  through  the  universe?  If  the  God  of  the 
universe  is  like  Christ,  we  may  indeed  be  yet  in  the  dark  as 
to  the  meaning  of  many  things,  or  even  of  most  things ;  but 
we  have  light  enough  with  which  to  work  with  all  our 
energy.  It  is  splendid  for  a  social  leader  to  stand  out  and 
defy  a  hopelessly  cruel  universe,  though  we  have  a  right  to 
ask  him  for  his  proof  that  the  universe  is  thus  hopelessly 
cruel.  Can  defiance  toward  the  universe,  however,  draw 
forth  the  energy  that  will  respond  to  the  ideal  of  a  friendly 
universe?  If  we  genuinely  care  for  men,  it  would  seem 
that  we  ought  to  be  willing  to  accept  aid  from  any  quarter, 
even  the  theological  quarter.  And  if  we  can  reenforce  our 
social  efforts  by  prayer  to  the  Christlike  God,  why  in  the 
name  of  the  humanity  we  are  striving  to  help  should  we 
not  do  so?    The  critic  replies  that  we  cannot  prove  that 

91 


CHRISTIAN  CITIZENSHIP 

such  a  God  exists,  and  that,  therefore,  we  are  deceiving 
ourselves.  We  reply  that  we  are  not  talking  of  proof  but 
of  belief.  And  let  the  critic  remind  himself  that  in  the 
present  sphere  of  existence  we  cannot  prove  anything  worth 
proving.  Even  mathematics  is  saturated  with  assumptions. 

The  Leaven  of  the  Eeligious  Spieit 

A  decisive  voice. — ^We  spoke  a  word  in  the  introductory 
chapter  about  the  limitations  put  upon  Christianity  by 
those  who  will  not  think  of  it  in  any  but  closely  personal 
terms.  We  had  in  mind  that  definite  type  of  Christian  who 
deliberately  insists  that  religion  shall  be  kept  within  such 
narrow  limits.  As  we  draw  to  the  close  we  may  say  that 
the  prevalence  of  the  religious  spirit  in  the  hearts  of  thou- 
sands who  have  no  opportunity  for  direct  social  leadership 
is  the  back-lying  force  that  comes  to  expression  when  the 
leader  has  cleared  the  way.  For,  as  soon  as  these  thousands 
see  social  questions  in  their  moral  and  human  bearings, 
they  speak,  and  their  voice  is  decisive. 

The  masses  as  a  conserving  force. — May  we  say  too  that 
the  existence  of  these  people  is  the  conserving  force  when 
actual  governmental  and  social  leadership  is  lacking  or 
goes  wrong?  I  once  knew  a  church  in  which  the  official 
leadership  was  selfish  and  worldly.  But  there  were  scores 
of  good  people  in  that  church  who,  without  regard  to  the 
leadership,  lived  godly  lives  and  helped  keep  the  com- 
munity life  sane  and  sweet  until  worthier  leadership  could 
be  brought  to  the  fore.  So  in  the  large  social  groups  the 
masses  of  well-intentioned  people  keep  things  steady  in 
days  of  ineffective  or  selfish  leadership  until  the  time  is 
ripe  for  a  change.  It  is  upon  such  right  spirit  in  the 
hearts  of  the  people  that  all  social  construction  and  re- 
construction must  build.  These  people  are  those  who  say 
^^amen"  to  leadership  when  it  appears. 

Questions  fob  Thought  and  Discussion 

1.  How  does  the  deepening  of  inner  personal  piety  affect 
the  outreach  of  the  social  gospel? 

2.  What  effect  should  labor  for  the  social  gospel  have  on 
inner  piety? 

93 


EELIGION  HAS  THE  LAST  WORD 

3.  Are  the  prayers  of  the  New  Testament  largely  per- 
sonal, or  social,  or  both? 

4.  Why  should  the  worker  for  society  support  the  evan- 
gelist who  is  seeking  to  convert  individuals? 

6.  How  does  it  happen  that  so  many  fine-spirited  social 
workers  who  do  not  accept  Christianity  express  disappoint- 
ment in  social  work? 

6.  Can  good  social  work  be  done  in  merely  routine 
fashion  ? 

7.  From  what  secret  springs  is  Christian  social  enthu- 
siasm fed? 

8.  Can  we  believe  in  the  God  of  Christ  and  be  indifferent 
to  effort  aimed  at  social  betterment? 


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